House of the Four Horsemen
by thrueyesandpen
Summary: The Four Horsemen are sent to a small town so that things can die down before they begin more work for the Eye. What adventures will ensue as the four try to live together in one house?
1. Home Sweet Home

**Disclaimer: No matter how much I wish I did, I don't own anything from Now You See Me **

Home Sweet Home

After the grand performances proved their worthiness to the Eye, the Four Horsemen were reassigned to a very tiny town where no one would recognize them. Dylan figured that they couldn't exactly carry out plans when the whole world was chasing their tails. Although he was met with stubbornness, Dylan managed to convince the magicians that this was the best option.

The Four Horsemen were to live together in a small house on the top of a hill for a few months. Until then, they were free to do as they wish – as long as they didn't attract attention. Dylan managed to seal the deal when he mentioned an unlimited, as long as it was reasonable, funding for living costs from the Eye.

And so, the Four Horsemen, after being given a few days to pack, were given the address to the new house. Jack was the first to arrive, for the house was very close to Brooklyn. He put his duffle bag at the front door. Idly, he lied down on his back and watched the sky. Soon enough, he fell asleep to the cool breeze.

Suddenly, Jack felt an omniscient stare watching him. He opened his eyes, and almost screamed like a girl, when he saw Henley's face right up in his.

"Hi Jack!" Henely greeted warmly. She wore a blue sundress and matching sunhat. In her hand she held her chocolate latte as usual, despite the fact that it was a sunny day. She set her latte down and held her arms out for a hug.

Jack quickly got up, brushing off some of the grass on his t-shirt and jeans, and gave Henley a hug. "Good to see you again. Beautiful as always." He helped Henley take some luggage to the front of the house.

"You know Henley is weak against the youthful and hot, Jack," Merritt surprised the two other Horsemen. Neither Jack nor Henley had heard his footsteps coming up the hill. Merritt wore a Hawaiian shirt and shorts, and pulled a suitcase along as he approached them.

Jack winked at Merritt. "Everyone is. It's one of my many flawless qualities."

Merritt proceeded to pull Jack into an arm hold, and Henley laughed, glad to see them together like a father and son.

Merritt heard a man mumbling to himself, and matched the voice to the person struggling up the hill with five bags too many of luggage. "Well, speaking of youthful and hot, here's the epitome of the opposite."

The three came down the hill to help Daniel with his rather excessive amount luggage. Henley took a suitcase and Daniel's laptop bag, Jack took two suitcases, and Merritt took the mattress and a duffle bag.

"Whoa Daniel. Did you leave anything behind?" Merritt questioned.

"Funny as ever Merritt," Daniel drawled out sarcastically. "And I don't think you got the memo, but we're not vacationing in Hawaii."

Merritt chuckled, "Nice to see you too."

The three brought all the baggage up to the house and opened the door. The living room had a flat screen TV, couch, and fireplace. The kitchen didn't have a dining table, but a bar-like table surrounded by the oven, and other appliances. In the backyard, there was a porch with a grill, and a small Jacuzzi on the side.

"Hm…not bad," Jack said as he strolled around the house.

The other Horsemen muttered in agreement. They proceeded to walk around the house and found a small hallway with four bedrooms all near each other.

Henley looked towards the men, "We each get our own rooms I suppose?"

"Well, you can room with me," Merritt said suggestively and wiggled his eyebrows. "We can do each other's hair, do each other's nails, and then, well, do each other."

Henley laughed and was about to respond, but Daniel cut her off. "Kinky – but she'll have to pass."

Henley frowned and was about to go into a rant about Daniel's inability to be friendly to anyone but hot girls at his magic shows. However, Jack, noticing the slight increase in the tension of the room, quickly raised a question out loud. "Why are there only two bathrooms?"

The Horsemen looked around and sure enough, there were only two bathrooms in the whole house.

"Well, if this is the case, I believe I am entitled to one," Henley said.

"Whoa there. I don't want to share with obsessive control freak and teen heart throb," Merritt said defensively.

Jack nodded in agreement. "How about, I get a bathroom, Henley takes a bathroom, Merritt gets the backyard, and Daniel takes the front?"

Daniel glared at Jack. "Thanks, I get to piss in the front of our house, which, may I remind you is on a hill, for the whole. entire. world. to. see."

"It'd be a great attraction. Probably higher ratings than even your best magic trick," Henley suggested, barely containing her laughter.

"Yes. Front row seats to J. Daniel Atlas and his bodily functions," Merritt laughed.

Daniel rubbed his temple in annoyance. Choosing to ignore his partners' statements, he said, "Okay. Henley gets her own bathroom for her, ah hem, feminine needs…OUCH!" he earned a punch in the arm, "Thanks a lot Henley. And we get the other bathroom."

Henley, satisfied, held everyone close together in a group hug. "This is it guys. Home sweet home."


	2. Spaghetti

**Thank you for the very kind reviews, follows, and favorites! To clarify, I want this to be a collection of short stories, so they won't flow in any particular order, nor will they have a main plot. Some people have asked what pairings there are going to be in this story. Though I don't know if I will work much romance into the story, I fully support Daniel/Henley. So, any small bits and pieces of romance will be between them. **

**Just for fun, however, I wanted to try Daniel/Henley. I hope it is a success. **

**Disclaimer: Don't own ****Now You See Me**

Spaghetti 

Henley was reading a magazine when her stomach began to grumble. Deciding that her focus was nonexistent on an empty stomach, she went over to the kitchen to see what was for dinner. "Hey Merritt what's for – wait you're not Merritt!" Henley was very surprised to see Daniel at the kitchen pulling out ingredients.

"Really? Thanks for pointing that out," Daniel replied sarcastically.

"How come Merritt isn't cooking? Isn't it his night?" Henley questioned

Daniel answered, "He and Jack are outside playing with a football."

Henley smiled. She caught on now. Daniel was never much of a sports player and probably got sent away. As an afterthought, she asked, "What are you making?"

"Spaghetti in tomato sauce," he said.

"Wait, but Danny, you can't even cook! You might poison all of us!" Henley remarked. She recalled the many incidents Daniel had tried, and epically failed to make dinner back when she was his assistant. They ended up befriending every take out place in town.

Daniel glared at her. Defensively, he responded, "I can cook. Spaghetti is very simple really. Though I may not be a master chef, I can handle basics." Sadly, Daniel actually had no idea where to start when cooking. When Merritt had asked him to cook, the first thing Daniel did was google how to cook spaghetti. After watching countless youtube videos and reading many articles, he finally went over to the kitchen with determination. But Daniel, and his ego, would never ever let Henley know this.

Henley looked skeptically at Daniel, but decided not to tease him too much for now. Nevertheless, she didn't leave the kitchen and said she would stay just in case he needed help or something caught on fire.

Daniel stared back and forth between the ingredients as he tried to recall the instructions of how to make spaghetti. He picked up a pot and filled it up with water, then set it on the stove and stared.

Henley watched him as he watched the pot. She couldn't understand what they were doing. Finally, she asked, "Aren't you going to turn on the stove?"

"Yes, I was getting to that," Daniel replied quickly. He stared at the stove again, as though he had powers that could magically turn on the stove.

Henley held her laughs in as she realized that Daniel didn't know how to work a stove. It was funny that such a great magician lacked so much common sense. She said aloud, "I'll turn on the stove."

Daniel visibly relaxed and said, authoritatively, "Yes, you take the stove, I'll take the noodles." As Henley boiled the water, Daniel pulled the spaghetti noodles out of the box.

Daniel noticed that Henley added some salt into the boiling water and quickly said, "Right, good call Henley." He came with the dry spaghetti noodles, broke them in half and added them into the pot. Daniel remembered, from the Food Network, that now he had to take a spoon and stir the noodles until the spaghetti became soft.

Henley noticed and mocked him lightly, "Right, good call Danny." She waited a little longer before turning off the stove, taking the pot off the stove and straining the spaghetti noodles. As she did this, she asked Danny to heat up the sauce.

To which he replied, "Yes, I will take the sauce and you can go strain the noodles."

Henley held in her slight annoyance. Sure she was use to his need to be in charge, but that didn't mean she wasn't annoyed when he had to turn everything to sound like a command he had made. She watched as he carefully put the sauce in the pot, set the pot on the stove, and this time, turned on the stove correctly after watching Henley do it.

After boiling, Daniel turned off the stove and took the pot. Henley had put the noodles into a clear bowl, ready to be served. She leaned in close and watched Daniel take the lid of the pot. The pot was very full, and Daniel, who noticed how close Henley was, twitched slightly and accidentally got sauce on Henley.

"DANNY!" Henley shrieked as she tried to wipe the red tomato sauce off her white blouse.

Daniel smiled, "Oops?" Caught in the mood, he took a little sauce with his spoon and flicked it at her. He laughed as it landed in her hair.

Henley was shocked, but suddenly smiled, "It's on!"

And so, the two partners chased each other with tomato sauce. Daniel was equipped with a spoon, and Henley quickly found a bowl to scoop the sauce. They moved around in the kitchen as though on a battlefield. Henley took the great opportunity to dump a bowl full of tomato sauce on Daniel's head so that it dripped all over his upper body.

Daniel wiped the sauce out if his eyes with his fingers. Slowly, he held his arms out and said, "Henley, come give me a hug."

Henley backed away slowly, "As much as a hugger I know you are, I'm going to pass. See I have this lovely blouse that only has a few stains and –" It was too late for Henley's blouse. Daniel tackled her down into a hug. Laughing, she wrestled with Daniel on the kitchen floor to try and get him off of her.

Henley managed to get on top of him. She pulled the spoon out of his hand and held it against his neck, pretending it was a knife and demanding he surrender. They couldn't stop laughing until their eyes met. Slowly, Henley lowered her head brought her lips closer. She waited for Daniel to stop or flaunt his usual arrogance, but was met with no resistance. Daniel brought his head closer as well and the two felt the close presence of one another.

Just as they were about to kiss, they heard a scream. Snapping out of their almost kiss, they discovered the scream had come from Jack, who was a few feet away from them. His hands were at his cheeks and he resembled Edvard Munch's The Scream painting.

Jack had come in a few seconds earlier. He had been outside playing football with Merritt and smelled something delicious. However, when he came in, he found Henley on top of Daniel, Henley's hands drenched with tomato sauce that looked like blood, spoon on his neck, and Daniel surrounded by blood-resembling tomato sauce.

Jack's senses caught up with him. He began to run away while screaming, "HENLEY'S GONE MAD! SHE KILLED DANIEL WITH A SPOON! RUN FOR YOUR LIFE MERRITT!"


	3. Stapler

**Thank you so very much for all your reviews, favorites, and follows! They really do mean a lot to me. One reviewer said they would like to see more of Jack, so I tried to write a short story centered mostly around Jack. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Jack Wilder, or ****Now You See Me**

Staples

Jack sat at his desk in his room, bored out of his mind. He twirled around in his chair for a while and looked at his desk for something to do. His eyes found the stapler. It wasn't a heavy-duty stapler and it wasn't one of those mini staplers that people felt the need to keep in their purses either. Jack's stapler was a simple, dark grey Swingline stapler.

He picked up the stapler and shifted it idly in his hands. Playing with it, Jack pushed the little silver metal button on the bottom of the stapler and the stapler swung open. Typically, this function was used for stapling things to the wall.

But Jack had better ideas for it.

Jack spun in his chair and fired staples repeatedly at the walls of his room. Jack had great aim built up from always throwing cards, but randomly firing was very fun as well. He spun faster and faster in his chair and hit more and more places on the wall.

Until he ran out of staples.

Frowning, he dug through his desk to look for staple refills. He almost screamed in excitement when he found a brand new pack of 100 staples. Loading the staples into his stapler, he began the staple shoot off again.

**15 minutes later…**

Jack's face fell when he realized he ran out of staples, again. He couldn't find anymore in his desk, and was about to put away his stapler, when he realized that his partners must have staplers in their desks as well. Setting down his grey stapler, Jack got up and left his room.

He first went over to Daniel's room and knocked. No one answered, so Jack turned the doorknob and found the room empty.

Well, Jack thought, Daniel wouldn't really miss his stapler so it should be fine to borrow it. Daniel's stapler was bright red, heavy duty. Eagerly, Jack took the stapler and Daniel's pack of refills and returned to his room.

**40 minutes later…**

Jack's happiness and excitement soon dissipated when Daniel's staples had run out. He quickly brought the stapler back to Daniel's room and went over to Merritt's door. Jack knocked and was met with no answer as before.

As Jack was about to walk into Merritt's room, Merritt stopped just before exiting the front door. Merritt had been in the living room watching TV and about to head out. He asked the suspicious looking teenager, "Hey…Jack. What's up?"

Jack paused mid-step. For some reason, he felt very guilty, even though he just wanted to borrow a stapler. Quickly, Jack replied, "Oh, I just wanted to borrow your stapler."

Merritt eyed Jack suspiciously but nodded. "All right Jack, it's the green one on the right hand corner of the desk," Merritt was about to ask why Jack needed the stapler, but figured it was just to staple papers. After all, what else would someone use a stapler for?

Jack grabbed the green stapler gleefully. He looked around Merritt's desk and also located the staple refills. Taking those as well, Jack practically skipped back to his room.

Meanwhile, Daniel was working on blueprints for future magic tricks. He had been working in the kitchen, because the kitchen table was much larger than the desk in his room. After deciding that he had worked enough on his blueprints for one day, Daniel began to put away his things so that the kitchen table could be used for dinner.

Daniel went over to his room to staple his blueprints together. He pulled his red stapler out and used the stapler, but the papers weren't stapled together. Daniel attempted a few more times, but soon realized he needed refills. However, when located the refill box in his drawers, Daniel found that he had run out of refills.

Agitated, Daniel went to the room next door and found Merritt on his laptop. Daniel ran a hand through his hair and asked, "Merritt, do you have a stapler?"

Merritt wondered why his crappy green stapler was in such high demand. He pulled out his green stapler and handed it over to Daniel. Merritt then turned back to his laptop screen, only to be hit lightly on the head with the green stapler moments later.

"Hey!" Merritt exclaimed. "A thank you is generally the response when somebody gratefully goes out of his way to get you what you need."

Daniel stared at him, "You're stapler is empty. No showering of gratefulness for you. Where are your refills?"

Merritt pulled out his refills and found that the refill box was empty. "Hm…that's funny," Merritt said as he scratched his head in confusion, "Jack borrowed my stapler earlier, but he didn't tell me it was empty. Well, I don't have any refills either, so I guess you'll have to ask Henley."

Daniel groaned and stormed over to Henley's room. Daniel slammed the door open and Henley jumped up in surprise.

"Could you knock?" Henley frowned, slightly annoyed. "What if I was naked?"

Daniel, by now, was very tired and very frustrated. "I've practically already seen you naked –" he began but Henley cut him off.

"Well, those outfits you put me in aren't exactly modest and –" Henley countered, only to be cut off by Daniel again.

"Listen, let's not get into this right now," Daniel said tiredly, "I need to borrow your stapler, or refills, or better yet, I need both."

Henley raised an eyebrow; she was surprised that Daniel didn't want to continue arguing. He always wanted the last word of everything. She wondered if he was alright, but answered, "Well, you have to go find Jack because I lent him both my stapler and staple refills. He said it was important."

Daniel sighed and walked out of Henley's room to Jack's. Jack's door was closed, but Daniel could care less by now. Taking a deep breath to calm himself down, Daniel swung the door wide open.

Jack stopped in the middle of shooting the walls of his room with Henley's stapler. He stopped spinning in his chair and looked at Daniel questioningly. Smiling, he said, "Hey Daniel! What's up?"

When Daniel looked around the room and saw the numerous staples in Jack's walls, Daniel's eye began to twitch.


	4. Car

**Thank you for the sweet reviews, favorites, and follows! Jack was very well liked, so I'll keep that in mind for the future. However, I realized that I haven't written much about Merritt. I don't know if it is the same for other authors, but to me, Merritt's character is difficult to write in general. Still, I did my best to write a Merritt centered story, so that I'd feel less guilty.**

**A SPECIAL SHOUT OUT THANK YOU TO peanutbuttre7! You are the first person to add me as a favorite author, and I appreciate it very much. I will hold my title proudly as one of your favorite authors :)**

**Disclaimer: Don't own Now You See Me. If I did, I would send the Four Horsemen to peanutbuttre7 as thanks**

Car

The Four Horsemen had been living in the house for a few days now. It was very nice and in general they were satisfied.

They were in the middle of a Fast and Furious movie marathon. Henley had popped lots of popcorn, so each group member sat with an overflowing bucket of popcorn in their lap. Merritt took the leather recliner. Jack sat cross-legged on the floor. Daniel sat on the couch and Henley leaned against him.

Halfway through the fourth movie of Fast and Furious, Merritt took the remote and hit pause. He got up and stood before his partners and said, "Guys, we need to get ourselves a car."

At first, the Horsemen were a bit shocked. No one had really mentioned a car, though each of them secretly wanted one.

Jack cheered, "Finally! I've been waiting for the right moment to ask since day one!"

Henley thought about it for a moment before agreeing, "I suppose it would be useful. After all, it take a while to walk to the town from here." And if they had a car, she thought, she could go shopping way more often.

"We could ask Dylan," Daniel suggested.

Merritt grinned, glad that the other Horsemen had accepted his idea. Truth was, Merritt had always been a public transportation user. He really didn't mind, but it was actually on his bucket list to own a key to a nice car. As a child, he owned a collection of toy race cars, given to him by his grandpa. Merritt pulled out his cell phone and called.

Merritt pushed a button so that the phone would go into speakerphone mode allowing the group to hear the phone call. The phone rang for a little bit before someone picked up. Dylan was a little surprised at the sudden request, but also agreed it was a good idea. He told the group that he would be there tomorrow.

After Merritt hung up the phone, he turned towards the team. Hardly containing his enthusiasm, he raised a question, "What kind of car should we get?"

"I don't think Dylan would be willing to give us each a vehicle," Daniel began, "so I think we should decide today what we want so that we can tell him tomorrow when he visits."

Merritt was the first to put up a suggestion, "I'm thinking major speed. My top pick would be a Bugatti or Lamborghini, but I'd be open to a Ferrari or Pagani as well." As Merritt spoke, his eyes lit up and he resembled a child opening presents.

Daniel shook his head, "No, the whole point is to lay low. Driving a sports car that goes more than 200 miles per hour is not laying low."

"What about a motorcycle? It's been my dream to own a Ducati," suggested Jack. The teen had wished for a motorcycle all his life. The motorcycle was on his birthday wish list, graduation gift wish list, Christmas wish list, and would probably be on his wedding gifts wish list as well.

"Yes," Henley said eagerly, "Do you know how many new escape artist acts I can create with a motorcycle?"

Jack looked at Henley in surprise, "You ride motorcycles?"

Henley rolled her eyes, "No, I just turn the engine on and hope I survive. For your information, I love motorcycles very much."

Merritt was impressed as well. "Now that's hot," Merritt whistled, "I use to date a motorcycle girl. She was confident, fun, and sexy. But, she choose the bike over me." Merritt feigned hurt and held his hand against chest where his heart was.

"Motorcycles don't increase sex appeal. And I don't think we should get a motorcycle. It's –" Daniel began, but was quickly cut off by Henley.

"I always wanted one," Henley continued, "even back when I was Danny's assistant. He never said yes though."

Everyone looked at Daniel. Daniel chuckled awkwardly and replied, "Well, what did you expect me to say? A motorcycle is dangerous and risky. As someone very concerned for Henley's well being, no would naturally be the right answer."

Merritt laughed and put a hand on Daniel's shoulder, "It's alright man. We all know Henley's sex appeal would skyrocket even more than it does now and you would jump her right away." Merritt winked at Daniel and joked, "I mean it, you look like the kind of guy that wouldn't think twice about doing it on the freeway."

Henley, slightly embarrassed but nevertheless flattered, laughed at Merritt's blunt statement. Jack began to laugh as Daniel's face turned a faint red.

"No, that's utterly ridiculous and unrelated to anything we were talking about," Daniel said defensively. "I'm just saying that a motorcycle has less safety assurance. Besides, if we got a motorcycle, then we couldn't all be in the car at once."

Merritt smiled, "I guess that makes sense. If we all wanted to go somewhere together that'd be a problem. Although, I think that if Henley and Jack sat on the motorcycle, you and I could attach a box and rope to the back of the motorcycle and trail behind."

Jack laughed at the very thought of Merritt's suggestion. Acknowledging the cons of getting a motorcycle, he said, "I guess motorcycles won't work out after all." But Jack accepted the rejection with ease; he could try again when he got married.

"So then what should we get then, Daniel" Henley asked, annoyed that a motorcycle was out of the options.

Daniel suddenly tensed up. Darting his eyes, he quickly replied, "Well…I think the best option would be to wait for Dylan and see what he suggests. Yeah, that's it. We'll wait because he knows what other members of the Eye have." In truth, Daniel had always rode taxis, limos, helicopters, jet skis, and even elephants. Daniel wasn't J. Daniel Atlas without his flashy entrances and a car simply didn't suffice.

Merritt rolled his eyes at Daniel's unwillingness to admit that he didn't know much about cars. Deciding to cut Daniel a break, he clasped his hands together and said, "Alright, let's just wait for Dylan then."

And so the Horsemen turned back to their fourth movie of the Fast and Furious series. Each of them, though unsure of what car they were going to get, was very excited just over the fact that they were getting a new, cool vehicle of some sort.

Merritt was so happy that he actually had a dream about driving.

The next day, the Four Horsemen heard someone ring the doorbell just before lunch. All four magicians gathered at the front door and opened it for Dylan.

"Whoa," Dylan said, surprised at the crowd that apparently waited for him to arrive. "You all seem anxious," he remarked.

Merritt eagerly began talking, "Yes. So we discussed, last night, what car we wanted and we came up with a few things here and there, but we wanted to ask your opinion first."

Dylan crinkled his brow in confusion, "Wait, did I forget to mention? I already got the car for you guys yesterday. I brought it here so that you guys could have it."

"Oh," said Merritt. He seemed mildly disappointed but then perked back up. "Can we see it then? I bet it's awesome!"

Dylan laughed, "Sure. It's outside."

The Horsemen followed Dylan out. They came out and found a black FBI car.

Jack exclaimed excitedly, "Wow! Not bad at all!" He and Merritt exchanged a high five.

"I know right? Got it for a good deal too," Dylan remarked.

Daniel nodded in agreement, "Right. Good call Dylan. This is perfect for our needs. It's got lots of room, will go super fast in necessary, and fits all four of us."

"How cool is it that we get to drive the same type of car that use to chase us all over the place?" Merritt added.

Dylan frowned, "Wait what?"

"Dylan, are you really giving us FBI car?" Henley asked.

Dylan looked over to the FBI car again and suddenly began to laugh. The Horsemen stared at the laughing man in confusion. Calming himself back down, Dylan said, "No guys. The FBI car isn't for you to use. That's mine. The car I am giving to you is right behind it."

The Horsemen looked at each other, then walked past the FBI car. Behind the sleek government vehicle… was an old, rusty Ford pick-up truck with a side-view mirror bent downwards, dirt covering the roof, a dent in the back, and a weird smell.

Dylan saw the crestfallen faces and quickly said, "Hey, this car isn't that bad. We can't get you guys anything fancy. Besides, it drives…most of the time."

It became apparent to the Four Horsemen that Dylan was not good at comforting.

"It's…great…yeah…" Merritt sniffled, "Don't mind me…these are…tears…of happiness…yeah…" He turned away from the Horsemen and headed back into the house. Sighing, Merritt supposed that if he closed one eye, and then the other, the truck sort of resembled a Bugatti.


	5. Relaxation

**Thanks all for the fabulous reviews, follows, and favorites! All your kindness makes my day.**

**Disclaimer: Don't own ****Now You See Me**

Relaxation

Daniel was exhausted.

Daniel had just drunk 20 cans of beer. Well, more precisely, Merritt had provoked Daniel, challenging his ability to hold down liquor. Daniel never backed down from a challenge. Jack supplied the beer for Daniel when he caved.

Recalling what had just happened, Daniel groaned and mentally slapped himself for going along with Merritt's stupid idea. Sighing, Daniel set himself down on the grass, and soon fell asleep.

Merritt and Jack saw him lying down on the grass and grinned. They went over to bother him.

"Daniel, you're asleep in jail," Jack stated.

"Daniel's dead!" Merritt gasped.

"Daniel, Merritt thinks you're dead," Jack scoffed.

"Daniel, Jack thinks you're not dead," Merritt whined.

"Daniel we're going to rob a bank," Jack said.

"Daniel, we're back!" Jack shouted.

Jack and Merritt had actually gone to town to take care of some grocery shopping Henley had assigned them. Henley also asked them to drop her off at the hair salon, so she wasn't home to scold them for bothering Daniel.

And so Jack and Merritt persisted to bother the poor magician.

"Daniel, the FBI stole Henley."

"Daniel, don't worry. She escaped. And stole a taser."

"Daniel, Henley tasered you."

"Daniel, Henley announced that she loved you."

"Daniel, Henley just asked you out on a romantic date."

"Daniel, Henley just broke up with you. I got tissues and ice cream."

"Daniel, Henley proposed to you."

"Daniel, you and Henley are married. Bring on the babies."

"Daniel, you and Henley are now divorced."

"Daniel, Henley tasered you again."

"Daniel, she ran away crying."

"Daniel, a hot Spanish lover is approaching Henley."

"Daniel, the hot Spanish lover thinks he got a chance."

"Daniel, don't worry. I shot him."

"Daniel, Merritt's a murderer."

"Daniel, look at this gigantic diamond."

"Daniel, Merritt ate the gigantic diamond."

"Daniel, Jack has peanut butter and jelly."

"Daniel, Merritt hasn't eaten in six hours."

"Daniel, now Merritt's trying to eat my hair."

"Daniel, Alma isn't really French."

"Daniel, Alma is from Walla Walla."

"Daniel, we just heard your bunny died."

"Daniel, your bunny's whole family was in a massacre."

"Daniel, Jack is actually a genie and is granting wishes."

"Daniel, we found a talking llama."

"Daniel, come eat some llama meat."

"Daniel, Merritt's getting into cannibalism."

"Daniel, are you dead?"

"Daniel, Jack is a vampire."

"Daniel, Jack is trying to suck my blood."

"Daniel, don't worry, I gave Jack a toy pig."

"Daniel, Jack the vampire died. He chocked on the stuffing of the toy pig while trying to suck its blood."

"Daniel, we've told everyone that your bunny's dead."

"Daniel, the whole world has gone into a huge ball of fire."

"Daniel, we are the last humans."

"Daniel, we have a flying elephant."

"Daniel, we made a movie about our flying elephant."

"Daniel, we made $1.3 billion for our opening weekend."

"Daniel, Disney is trying to sue us for our flying elephant movie."

"Daniel, we got a lawsuit."

"Daniel, Dylan's gotten married."

"Daniel, Dylan married a walrus."

"Daniel, Dylan's walrus wife is pregnant."

"Daniel, she gave birth to pineapples."

"Daniel, you are now a godfather to some pineapples."

"Daniel, Merritt just ate your godchildren."

"Daniel, I just dared Merritt to say an 8 worded poem."

"Daniel, listen. Donuts – by Merritt. Donuts...donuts donuts donuts...donuts donuts donuts...donuts."

"Daniel, wasn't that beautiful?"

"Daniel, I won a Nobel Prize."

"Daniel, Merritt ate his Nobel Prize."

"Daniel, turns out we didn't really win the Nobel Prize. Merritt has to send it back once it comes out."

"Daniel, Thaddeus Bradley publically proclaimed that he loved unicorns."

"Daniel, the unicorns killed themselves to get away from Thaddeus Bradley."

"Daniel, Thaddeus Bradley is trying to put ice cream cones on horses."

"Daniel, Henley's hot Spanish lover turned into a zombie."

"Daniel, don't worry. I shot him again."

"Daniel, we know the meaning of life."

"Daniel, Henley's sexy Australian lover is coming."

"Daniel, don't worry. Merritt shot him."

"Daniel."

"Daniel?"

"Daniel!"

"DANIEL."

"DANIEL?"

"DANIEL!"

"DANIEL DANIEL DANIEL!"

"Hey – Let's draw on his face."

Daniel slowly opened her eyes, completely unaware of what's been happening around him. Groggily, he asked "Merritt, Jack, you said something?"

"Uh..."


	6. Flowers

**Thanks for the amazing reviews, follows, and favorites! I was worried that the previous chapter would be a little too extreme, but you all have been so encouraging (and I will definitely look into a Now You See Me/Hangover crossover. Oh dear.) Anyways, as requested by some reviews, another small Daniel/Henley story.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own ****Now You See Me**

Flowers

Daniel waited anxiously by the front door for his delivery to arrive. He had everything planned out and couldn't wait to see Henley's reaction to his surprise.

From the moment the Eye brought them together again, Daniel wanted to apologize to Henley. Daniel knew he was at some fault, though he only allowed himself to accept the minimum blame. Still, he wasn't about to go on his knees and beg for forgiveness. That just wasn't his style.

No, Daniel was classy, sly, cunning, sophisticated. He was going to subtly apologize without saying the words. And he had the utmost confidence that Henley was going to love his surprise. And then he would finally clear his conscious of being a jerk to Henley during her time as his assistant.

The doorbell shook Daniel out of his thoughts and Daniel went to answer the door. Signing for the package, he told the deliveryman to bring it out to the backyard. After the deliveryman left, Daniel opened the package. Inside was a potted trumpet vine plant.

Daniel knew that Henley wasn't the biggest fan of flowers. Henley once told Daniel that she didn't like to receive flowers very often because they would eventually wither and die. But for some reason, Henley loved trumpet vine flowers.

Daniel actually knew what trumpet vine flowers were. Back in his childhood, they would grow around the fence of his house. So Daniel decided to get Henley her very own flowers. He went online and bought some red trumpet vine flower plants (not the seeds because Daniel was too impatient to wait for them to grow). Right now, Henley had gone out to buy groceries, so Daniel would have an hour finish his surprise. Daniel planned to take the potted trumpet vine plant and transfer it outside in the backyard.

He carried the plant to the backyard and took out the tools he would need from the shed. Daniel looked around the backyard to find the optimal spot to plant the flowers. He eventually decided to plant the flowers next to the fence, to the left of the barbeque grill. By planting them here, the trumpet vines would grow along the fence. As he was about to begin, he realized that he forgot gardening gloves.

Just then, Jack walked into the backyard and asked, "Hey Daniel, what are you doing?"

Daniel looked up and said hastily, "I'm trying to plant these flowers as a surprise for Henley." Glancing at his watch, Daniel noticed he had already wasted 15 minutes. Without talking to Jack anymore, he hurried into the house to get the gardening gloves.

While Daniel was gone, Jack decided he was going to help Daniel with the surprise. Jack had never gardened before, but he figured it couldn't be that hard. He took a shovel and began to dig a hole right in the middle of the backyard.

Jack wasn't sure how big holes for a plant were supposed to be. However, he figured the bigger the better.

As Jack dug, Daniel was still in the house frantically searching for gloves.

Jack looked at his work after digging. He had created a 6 feet by 6 feet hole. Deciding that was big enough, he took the trumpet vine flowers and threw them in the hole. Then, Jack proceeded to put the dirt back, covering the hole and burying the flowers in the hole.

Daniel finally came back into the backyard. He saw Jack sitting on the porch with a satisfied smirk then looked around and couldn't find his flowers. Panicking, he demanded, "Jack! Where are the flowers?"

Jack gave a lazy smile and replied, "Don't worry, Daniel. I got it covered – literally. I planted the flowers for you."

"Where?" Daniel demanded.

"Right here," Jack said, pointing to the gigantic hole that had been filled up.

Daniel almost face palmed himself. He quickly began to dig up the hole."Jack! You're only supposed to burry the roots, not the entire plant! Hurry and help me dig out the flowers. Henley will be back in half an hour and the flowers are literally 6 feet under!" Daniel yelled.

Jack quickly helped Daniel dig out the trumpet vine flowers. Luckily, they managed to dig out the flowers in about 15 minutes. Jack helped Daniel dig a hole, correctly sized this time, near the fence and they quickly planted the trumpet vine flowers.

Satisfied, Daniel looked back at the hole. He asked, "Now, what are we going to do about this gigantic hole?"

Jack shrugged, "We can just cover it back up. But first, let's take a break. I'm so tired."

Suddenly, Merritt walked into the backyard. He had heard a lot of noise coming from the backyard and came to see what was going on. "Hey! What's going –" Merritt began but was soon cut off.

Merritt was cut off because he fell into the hole.

Jack and Daniel ran over to Merritt, who was covered with dirt and very angry.

"Why is there a hole?" Merritt exclaimed.

Daniel groaned, "Henley will be home in five minutes! We have to get Merritt out quickly!"

Jack extended his hand out to Merritt and said quickly, "Take my hand!"

Merritt grabbed Jack's hand and Jack tried to pull him up. However, Merritt was much heavier than Jack and as a result, ended up pulling Jack into the hole as well. Jack came crashing into Merritt.

"Way to go Jack," Merritt complained.

"Get us out Daniel!" Jack demanded.

Daniel was about to reply when he heard Henley come into the house. "Shut up guys! Just wait here and don't move or say anything," Daniel demanded. Panicking, he threw some grass and twigs over the hole to cover it up, much to Merritt and Jack's protests.

Henley looked around the house, surprised that no one was here. "Guys?" she asked aloud.

"In the backyard," replied Daniel. He desperately tried to clean himself up and fix his hair. When he spotted Henley, he went over and linked his arm around hers. "I have a surprise," he said to her, "close your eyes."

Henley, at first slightly suspicious, closed her eyes. Daniel led her to where the trumpet vine flowers were. He told her to open her eyes.

And Henley was honestly very shocked to see the flowers. "Daniel," she exclaimed, "These are trumpet vine flowers! Oh my goodness! You planted them for me?"

Daniel smiled, "You said they were your favorite."

"Awww…" said two quiet voices from the hole. Daniel quickly shushed them.

"Sorry? Did you say something Danny?" Henley asked.

"No, but I hope you like them?" Daniel rushed.

"Well, I definitely do! Thank you so much," Henley sighed. She admired the flowers for a few more minutes before speaking up again, "Daniel, do you know why I like trumpet vines?"

Daniel paused. He didn't know why she liked the flowers.

Henley noticed his confused look and laughed. "When we first met, we had an interview over coffee. One of the first things you said was that the color of my hair looked like the trumpet vines from your house. I asked you if that was a good thing and you said you had a bias towards red-heads," Henley paused, before continuing, "Then, you proceeded to hit on me trying to get me to go home with you."

Daniel turned red at the memory. He recalled the interview, but didn't recall, or didn't want to recall, all that he had said. Daniel was really glad he didn't have a one night stand with Henley, because if he did, he probably wouldn't have ever found out how gorgeous Henley looked just smelling flowers.

Henley smiled and kissed Daniel on the cheek. She really was grateful for Daniel's thoughtful surprise. Henley began to step away from the plant while saying, "Let's see a full view of these wonderful flowers." She positioned her hands out as though she were taking a photo of the flowers.

Daniel smiled, glad that Henley liked the flowers. "Sure thing, just back up – Wait! Don't back up!" Daniel shouted.

But it was too late. Henley backed up…right into the hole. The thin layer of twigs and grass fell through when Henley fell and landed right on top of Jack who landed on top of Merritt.

Merritt groaned and Jack said sheepishly, "Hi Henley?"

"DANIEL!" Henley screamed.


	7. Couple Name

**Thanks for the magnificent reviews, follows, and favorites! As requested by a reviewer, another story centered around Jack, with a tiny bit of Daniel/Henley just for fun.**

**Disclaimer: Still don't own Now You See Me**

Couple Name

Growing up as a kid, Jack was always very curious. And in Jack's life, he asked so many questions that he often forgot the answers to some, therefore creating more questions to ask.

At five years old, Jack learned what red, blue, and yellow were, and asked why the world turned so colorful. At seven, he had a toy dinosaur and asked if the dinosaurs went to heaven. At eight, he wondered what Santa smelled like. At ten, he wondered why there were two kinds of toilets in the boy's bathroom. At eleven, he got slapped in the face for saying that he liked more than one girl (in fact, he liked all the girls, boys, and class pets). At thirteen, he was bullied by a kid born on a leap year, and asked if people born on February 29th were actually younger therefore inferior. At fourteen, he pondered the meaning of life. At sixteen, he wondered why girls had sweet sixteen. At eighteen, he asked why some of the idiots near him in the voting booths got to vote, and got his voting right suspended for that election year. At nineteen, he pondered career choices. At twenty-one, he asked if he could just stay twenty-one and win jackpots in Vegas forever.

And old habits die hard, so Jack grew up to be an inquisitive adult as well. And once Jack had a question, he couldn't leave it alone until he got an answer.

Recently, there was a question that had been burning in Jack's mind ever since he met J. Daniel Atlas and Henley Reeves.

His question: What in the world is going on between Henley and Daniel?

He knew that she had been Daniel's assistant, and just assumed that they split peacefully. Yet there was SO MUCH awkwardness and tension when they met again.

And so Jack assumed they were enemies. But after spending so much time with them, he figured they could not be enemies. Whenever Daniel had a plan, Henley got what he needed without him saying it aloud. If Henley took a sudden detour, Daniel was at the end to greet her. When Daniel was difficult, Henley never caved. In moments when Henley felt weak, Daniel pushed her harder. They made a great team, even with fights. In fact, Jack wanted to believe that because they fought, they were an even better team.

Jack settled with classifying their relationship as friends. But that changed when he saw the poorly hidden jealously, lingering stares, silent confessions, moments spent thinking of the other before themself. It was obvious something was going on.

They definitely weren't lovers. Lovers held hands, kissed, grossed out kids in the park, hugged, ate from the same spaghetti noodle, and all those other cheesy signs of love. No, the day that Daniel and Henley skip together hand in hand through a field of flowers is the day the apocalypse happens.

Thus was Jack's dilemma. He wanted to ask the two people in question directly, but he was sure they would avoid the question or give him some stupid answer.

So Jack did what he thought to be most logical.

He went to Merritt.

Jack figured that Merritt was a mentalist, which, in Jack's mind, sounded like mind reader. Since the two occupations sounded the same, Jack figured Merritt was the best source for an answer. And also, Jack had no one else to ask since he figured Dylan wouldn't even know what he was talking about.

Jack went to Merritt's room and knocked. Jack heard Merritt tell him to come in, and so he went inside and sat on Merritt's bed.

"Hey Jack," Merritt said, "What's on your mind?" Merritt swiveled his chair to face Jack.

"Merritt, you're good at reading people?" Jack began.

"Sure, it's part of being a mentalist." Merritt replied.

"Do you promise not to tell Daniel or Henley?" Jack said quickly.

Merritt raised an eyebrow and said, "You did something illegal didn't you? What is it? Went cow tipping while you were drunk? Ran naked through the town?"

Jack made a face and quickly shook his head. "No!" Jack exclaimed. "I just have a question."

Merritt looked mildly disappointed but nodded, waiting for Jack to continue.

Jack took a breath and asked, "What is going on between Daniel and Henley? Are they dating? Are they not? Do they like each other?" The questions all came tumbling out of Jack's mouth.

Merritt was a little surprised, but began to laugh. In fact, Merritt laughed and laughed so hard that he started to cough. "Aren't you curious," Merritt commented, wiping a tear that had formed from his laughter. "Honestly, I think they do like each other. Unfortunately all that pride, lust, etc just gets in the way of their happiness together. But it's much better now than when they first met again."

Jack nodded, but he wasn't quite satisfied with the answer. "So you're saying that they are in love with each other, but don't want to admit it?"

"Sure. Something like that," Merritt said. He twirled a pencil in his hand idly before exclaiming, "Hey Jack! We should make a couple name for them! You know, so that when they finally get together, we'll have their couple name on fifty thousand t-shirts and mugs already."

"A couple name?" Jack repeated.

"Yeah, you know like Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, Brangelina. It'll be fun!" Merritt encouraged.

"Hm…Henley…Daniel…Haniel?" Jack suggested

Merritt chewed it over, "No, Daniel's name takes up too much of the couple name. We can't give Daniel that satisfaction and Henley would never agree. So it would have to be Daniel … Henley… Danley."

"Yeah," Jack agreed, "I like it."

"It's settled then. Danley, the couple name created by Jacrett," Merritt exclaimed.

Jack just stared at Merritt, "No Merritt. Just Danley."

"Why?" Merritt whined. "Jacrett had such great potential! Mack? Meck?"

Jack said nothing else and just left Merritt.

So for the next few days, Jack tried to utilize their new couple nickname.

When Daniel and Henley shared a soda while watching TV, Jack walk past them and whispered, "Danley."

When Henley screamed at Daniel for looking through her stuff, Jack shook his head and said "Stay strong Danley!" under his breath.

When Daniel genuinely complimented Henley on something, Jack was nearby making kissy sound effects and saying "Awwww…Danley!"

When Henley slapped Daniel for being a jerk, Jack was there with the ice pack and comforting, "It's okay, Danley will pull through."

When Henley bought extra pudding cups for Daniel during her grocery runs, Jack held the grocery bags and commented, "Danley is so sweet."

When Daniel yelled at Henley for losing one of his blueprints, Jack mediated the dispute and scolded, "Danley can't fail due to something so stupid!"

When Henley and Daniel took walks outside in the evenings, Jack trailed behind and hummed, "Daaaaaaaaaannnnnnnnnnnlllllllllllllllleeeeeeeeeyy yyyyyy."

After a week, Danley and Henley both came up to Jack.

"Okay," Daniel began.

"Jack – WHO IN THE HELL IS DANLEY?" Henley exclaimed.


	8. Ice Cream

**Thanks for the fabulous reviews, follows, and favorites! You all are so amazing. This chapter is centered around Merritt, since a few of you enjoyed the previous Merritt-centered story. Oh - and there is no intended offense to people who like vanilla ice cream. I love vanilla, especially french vanilla. But for the sake of the plot, I hope vanilla lovers aren't offended.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own ****Now You See Me**

Ice Cream

The Four Horsemen were eating ice cream at a local ice cream parlor. Normally they would just eat desserts at home, but an unidentified Horseman had apparently eaten all the ice cream, cake, cream puffs, and any other possible dessert in the fridge.

Henley suspected Daniel was on a mood tantrum and needed fattening foods to eat his feelings out, so he went after the desserts in the fridge. Jack suspected that Daniel had a sweet tooth. Merritt simply believed that Daniel liked to splurge, get fat, and then insult Henley to make himself feel better. When they confronted Daniel with the accusations, Daniel repeatedly denied the accusations. After arguing for a while, they called Dylan to mediate the dispute and be a judge in their dessert eater mystery. Dylan, tired from a long day at work, told them to just go out for ice cream.

So, the Four Horsemen went out for dessert.

After ordering their ice creams, the Four Horsemen sat in a booth in the ice cream parlor. At first, they ate in silence, simply enjoying their ice cream. After a while, Merritt brought up the topic of ice cream philosophy.

Daniel snorted, Henley looked intrigued, Jack stared at stared at her ice cream as if it would start talking to him.

"What does philosophy have to do with ice cream?" Jack asked.

Merritt went on to explain that you could tell a lot about a person by what type of ice cream they got.

The Horsemen looked skeptically down at their ice cream.

"For example, take a look at my ice cream" Merritt brightly pointed at his ice cream. It was coffee ice cream and had chocolate and nuts on top. The nice lady behind the counter even put a cherry on top.

"You see," Merritt began, "Coffee is energetic. The chocolate adds some mystery, means I'm sweet and have a secret. The nuts mean I have incredible intelligence, and the cherry? It means I've got that special touch." Merritt winked.

Jack and Henley looked incredulously at Merritt, then at each other. Daniel just wanted to bang his head on the table.

"I'm going to go in order, which means Henley is up! Let me take a look at that," Merritt said. Henley handed over her rainbow sherbet, with marshmallows, and some chocolate chips.

"Alright, Rainbow sherbet means you are both sweet and have a bit of a temper. The chocolate means mystery, sweet, with a secret. The chocolate chips mean a confusing relationship with someone."

"Wow," Henley sat and stared at her ice cream.

"Jack, can I take a look at… erm… that?" Merritt didn't even want to call it ice cream.

Jack's ice cream was a huge blob of chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream mixed with mint chip ice cream, gummy bears, fudge, sprinkles, gummy worms, and caramel. "Wow...this one's going to be hard..."

Jack grinned. He liked being difficult.

"Alright. I got it!" Merritt said triumphantly. "Cookie dough for your child-like personality, mint chip because you can you can be a bit rough around the edges, gummy bears because you have a soft spot for something, fudge for when you get over dramatic about things, sprinkles for your creativity, gummy worms for your innocence and naivety, and caramel… because you can be a sticky pain in the ass."

Daniel laughed. "Hear that Jack? You're a pain in the ass." He earned a glare from the said teenager.

"Daniel, your ice cream please," Merritt examined the ice cream.

Daniel handed over his ice cream. There's no such thing as ice cream reading, Daniel told himself, yet he felt himself drawn to the answer that Merritt was about to give.

Merritt looked inside Daniel's ice cream cup. Plain vanilla.

"Uh, Daniel? You're boring, have little to no emotion, and have a bad taste in ice cream."

Daniel's mouth fell open in shock. "Look here, I don't need your little ice cream personality sensors to tell me about myself," Daniel glared at his ice cream, obviously unhappy.

"Sorry...it's just that...vanilla is boring," Merritt shrugged.

Daniel looked away from his ice cream glared at Merritt.

After a moment of silence, Jack said defensively, "I am NOT a pain in the ass! Where did he get that from?"

"Dunno," Henley said. A few minutes later, she turned towards Merritt and asked, "So...did you have any idea what you were doing the whole time?"

Merritt grinned, "Nope. No idea. I just made everything up as I went along. I'm a mentalist. There's no such thing as an ice cream reader. You guys are being ridiculous"

"So that's why you looked so happy with yourself!" Daniel was frustrated, or insulted, probably both.

"Yup. I tricked all of you." Merritt leaned back, obviously very pleased with himself.

"This only means one thing everyone," Jack said with his trademark evil smile.

Henley laughed, immediately knowing what she was going do. Daniel still stared very unhappily at his ice cream.

"Huh? What?" Merritt asked.

Jack grabbed his ice cream cup, which now contained a melted mush of ice cream and toppings, and flung it at Merritt's face.


	9. Kiss

**Thanks for the generous reviews, favorites, and follows. This chapter is a request specifically from AnnabethandPercyJackson17, a kiss between Daniel/Henley. **

**So, I'D LIKE TO WARN ANY READERS THAT AREN'T INTO THE ROMANCE. This chapter is the most Daniel/Henley I've ever incorporated, and the story as a whole has a more dramatic tone than a funny one. And I apologize if the ending wasn't quite what you all wanted. :)**

**Nevertheless, I hope I have completed the request successfully and I hope all the Daniel/Henley lovers enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own J. Daniel Atlas or Henley Reeves, or ****Now You See Me**

Kiss

Daniel opened the door to the house at 10:00 pm. He had been running all over town picking up supplies for a new magic trick. Unfortunately, the magic trick was very complicated and required many different objects that may or may not have all been legal. It had been a very long day and Daniel was physically and mentally exhausted. He just wanted to eat a quick dinner then head straight to bed.

But Daniel should've known that fate loved to bother him by making things the exact opposite of what he wanted.

When Daniel came home, he found his partners in the kitchen surrounded by beer cans. Henley stood on the kitchen table chugging beer down. Merritt and Jack also had beer in their hands, and were cheering her on.

"Hey Daniel!" Merritt exclaimed as he came over to Daniel and pat him on the back. "You made it just in time to join the party!"

Daniel rubbed his temples, "I thought we said no parties. But of course, you would choose the day I'm not here to buy, what is that, 12 packs of beer? I know how well you and Jack can hold your liquor down but that does mean that it's okay – Wait!" Daniel looked over at Henley. "How much did Henley drink?" Daniel demanded.

Jack gave a carefree smile. "Relax," Jack said as he stood up, swaying as he walked towards Daniel. "She said she was good with liquor. So don't be a party pooper Danny-kins."

"No no no no no no," Daniel muttered. He went over and lifted Henley off the table. "She has a very low alcohol tolerance!"

"HEY DANNY!" Henley said in a slurred protest. "You can't move the queen off her throne. Off with your head!" Henley was clearly more drunk than a sailor on a holiday.

Merritt saw that this was going to end badly for him if he didn't leave quickly. Daniel just might kill him this time. Merritt said, "Daniel, how about I deal with Jack and you help Henley? Jack isn't too bad, but he's tipsy. Anyways, she should be fine. Just give her some water and have her eat something," Merritt took Jack by the shoulders and hastily exited the kitchen before Daniel could protest.

"Relax Dannnnnnny," Henley slurred. "I'm not drunk. Just a teensy tiny bit intoximated! Or was it untoxitated? I dunno, never was that great at spelling."

Daniel could feel a huge headache coming on. Daniel didn't get drunk very often, since he was always so busy. And now, he recalled exactly why he didn't drink. Vaguely, he remembered that Merritt said he should get her a glass of water.

Suddenly, Henley began to poke Daniel. She poked lightly, sparingly for a few pokes. Then, she just started jabbing him repeatedly in the side.

At first, Daniel was so absorbed in his thoughts didn't notice. But after a while, he said tired, "What Henley?"

"I gotta peeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee…" Henley complained.

"Then go," Daniel replied. He went over to the kitchen and poured a glass of water for her.

Henley got up and stumbled left and right. As she swayed, she yelled, "HEY DANNY! I'm doing it I'm doing – OUCH! DANNNNNNNNNY! How could you let this happen to me! I'M SOOOOOOOOOOOO UPSET DANNY! THE WALL WAS IN MY WAY!" Henley screamed after she ran into the wall.

Daniel sighed and walked over to help her up. He supposed this was one of the many mood-swings that Henley would go through in her drunk state. He led her to the bathroom slowly. As he guided her, she ranted about how awful he was.

When Henley got out of the bathroom, she looked a little better. Daniel almost thought she had sobered up. He walked up to her and held out the glass of water. He felt that maybe his luck had begun to turn around.

"I love you, you love me, we're are happy family…" Henley sang as she skipped over to Daniel. And just as Henley's hand went to take the glass, she said, "HEY DANNY! I think I feel much better I –" Henley was interrupted when she threw up.

Henley's barf aimed straight for Daniel. And Henley had impeccable aim.

Daniel didn't say anything, but began to rub his temples, which were aching by now. He led Henley over to the kitchen chair, gave her the water, told her to stay put, and went to go change. He also told himself to get some Aspirin because this was going to be a difficult night.

When he came back, Henley was waving her arms around wildly. She spotted him and said, "HEY DANNY!"

Daniel wondered how she still had so much energy. He noticed she had drank the glass of water and remembered that Henley should eat something. Going along with her, he said, "What now, Henley?"

"I'm so happy!" Henley said dramatically. "I feel on top of the world! We are the greatest magicians ever! Let's go out to town! Let's make a riot! Let's party it up! Let's go skinny-dipping! Let's go to the beach! LIFE IS GREAT!" she cheered. She kicked her feet up on the table and laughed.

"I guess this is the happiness mood," Daniel said to himself. He was in the kitchen taking out bread to make two pieces of toast. He made one for himself, since dinner was still on his mind, and one for the drunken Henley.

He sat across form Henley and handed her the plate with her piece of toast. "Here Henley," Daniel said.

Henley picked up the toast and then suddenly gave a flirty smile. "Hey Danny," she purred, "this is kind of romantic. Just the two of us, eating toast, hm?"

Daniel knew she was in another mood, romantic perhaps, but still he couldn't help but faintly blush. Figuring it was best to just go along with her moods, he smiled and said, "Why of course m'lady. Allow me to pour you some more water?"

And, Daniel had to admit, the quick 10 minute dinner with Henley was great. Though Henley talked about mummies, unicorns, and rainbows, Daniel managed to follow her random drunk tangents and found himself having a good time.

After they ate, Daniel led Henley to her bedroom so that she could sleep. He said, "Alright Henley, it's time to sleep."

And then, faster than Daniel could even process, Henley began sobbing.

"I… I'm so sad… Daniel… why am I not good enough for you?" Henley cried.

"Who said that you weren't good enough for me?" Daniel was confused. She was sad, he understood that part, but he didn't get what she was talking about. "Calm down Henley, you're amazing."

Henley sniffled, "You are so arrogant, such a jerk, and you're ego is the size of the universe. I don't understand why I like you but I do." Henley wiped some of her tears away using the corner of her blanket.

Daniel was now more shocked than confused. Quietly, he asked, "You like me?"

Henley glared through her tears, "YES you idiot! Always did. But no, you don't like me back."

"You've never even asked if I liked you!" Daniel said defensively.

Henley laughed bitterly, "Of course I didn't ask. My heart couldn't take it if I got a definite rejection. And did I even have to ask – YOU BROUGHT HOME A GIRL FOR EVERY CARD IN YOUR DECK! The magic trick on the building? You showed me that too, and used the red Queen of Hearts. Only difference is that I didn't sleep with you after!" By now Henley was shouting and angry and crying all at once.

Daniel was very upset too. "WELL HOW AM I SUPPOSE TO KNOW HOW YOU FEEL? I'm pretty sure you didn't seem interested in me when you flirted with that Spanish guy, or the Australian you met while waiting in line for the bathroom!" he yelled.

"I WASN'T FLIRTING! He asked me directions to a restaurant!" Henley exclaimed, "And if you could just keep your temper in check maybe you'd see that for once, life doesn't revolve around you. Maybe you'd see that I don't care about the Spanish or Australian guy when I have this egocentric, handsome, annoying, talented, emotionless, amazing guy that's too much of a handful for –"

Henley was interrupted when Daniel kissed her.

Daniel didn't know what made him act so impulsively. He had unintentionally brought up his jealousy and then Henley was complimenting him in her weird way. His eyes found her lips and suddenly, he just lost control and brought his face close to hers. Part of him wanted to shut her up, part of him just wanted to kiss her.

And even as Daniel analyzed what had happened, he was still kissing her. She was extremely shocked, but soon tilted her head and wrapped her arms around him. He didn't let go of her, but took one of his hands and wiped the tears off her face.

Finally, they broke apart.

Daniel was flushed and panting. He was very surprised that Henley was such a great kisser. And though his jealousy would certainly bring that up in another conversation. But for now, he just hugged her. He said quietly, "Henley, I like you too."

Henley was also hugging Daniel when she froze. "W-what was that?" Henley, even in her drunken and tearful state, didn't want to jump to conclusions on something that could practically give her a heart attack.

Daniel laughed at Henley's sudden shyness. He held her by the shoulders and faced her clearly, making eye contact. "Once more then? Henley, I like you very much."

Henley's whole face lit up. She didn't say anything, but brought her lips towards his again and kissed him. The kiss was much quicker than the first, but nevertheless, very special to the both of them.

Henley was about to begin talking when she yawned. Daniel noted that she was very tired and suggested that she rest. Henley tried to protest that she wasn't tired, but her hands rubbed her eyes and her eyelids began to close.

Daniel grinned and tucked her into her bed. He kissed her on the forehead and said quietly, "Goodnight Henley."

As Daniel was about to leave, Henley's hand reached out and grabbed his hand. He tried to slip out of her hold, but didn't succeed.

"Please…stay," Henley said sleepily.

Daniel just couldn't say no when she asked like that. He found a chair, brought it over, and sat down with Henley.

Henley, satisfied that Daniel wasn't going to leave, soon fell asleep. But, her hand still wouldn't let go of Daniel's hand, even as she was asleep.

Daniel watched Henley for a while. Her bright red hair surrounded her face like a halo, her cheeks were slightly red from the alcohol, and she snored faintly. It was so different to see her calm and quiet because everyone usually saw Henley as fiery and outgoing.

He thought about what was going to happen after today. Daniel smiled as he thought back to Henley's words. It was basically a confession right? His ego grew from that, for he could never believe someone so amazing as Henley Reeves would say she loved him. And, Daniel had also responded. Slightly embarrassed, he recalled what he had said to her to calm her down. Daniel had never loved anything or anyone, yet those words came out with no regret.

Amidst all the confusion and thinking, Daniel fell asleep. His head rested on the bed next to Henley. And the whole time the two slept, they never let go of each other's hands.

The next morning, Henley woke up and found that Daniel was sleeping next to her. She was surprised to find her hand in his. Henley tried to slip out without waking Daniel up, but was unsuccessful.

Daniel opened his eyes and rubbed them as he said, "Hey Henley… how are you feeling?"

Suddenly, a massive headache hit Henley. She groaned, "Like I got ran over by a truck."

"Well, that's what alcohol does to you. You're in hangover," Daniel said comfortingly. He rubbed her back comfortingly, figuring that as the boyfriend, it was his job to help her feel better.

"Ugh, I have a massive headache," Henley complained. "And I can't remember anything that happened –"

Daniel stopped rubbing her back in shock, "Wait, what?"

"I said, I don't remember anything after me opening my first beer can," Henley replied.

Daniel realized that if Henley didn't have any memory of anything that happened, she didn't remember her confession. She didn't remember what he had said. She didn't remember their kiss. She didn't remember any of it.

"Hey… Danny? I don't feel so good…" Henley began.

And for the second time in 24 hours, she threw up on Daniel.

But even with barf on him, the only thought that kept racing through his mind and mocking him was the fact that she couldn't recall what was probably the best moment of his life.

Daniel wanted to cry.


	10. Sick

**Thanks for the warm reviews, follows, and favorites! I realize that the previous chapter was a little depressing, so hopefully this chapter will bring back some laughter. I've been getting some specific requests, and I will try my best to fulfill all of them, so please be patient with me. **

**This chapter is a request from claire3loves3music, where Daniel has to take care of the sick Horsemen.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Now You See Me**

Sick

Daniel was in the kitchen, eating his breakfast and waiting for Merritt. Today, the two were going to the local auto shop to get the truck fixed. Yesterday, when Jack used it to go buy everyone a new stapler, he accidentally ran into a tree. The car then had a huge dent in the front bumper that needed to be fixed as soon as possible. Merritt had volunteered to go to the auto shop and Daniel wanted to follow, just in case Merritt took someone else's car.

Daniel looked impatiently at his watch and wondered why Merritt wasn't up yet. It was true that Daniel was the earliest riser, but Merritt was usually punctual when he had something to do. After finishing his breakfast and still missing Merritt, Daniel decided to go and find Merritt.

Daniel opened the door. "Merritt?" Daniel asked while poking his head through the door. He looked on the bed to find a bunched up ball, surrounded by blankets, coughing and sniffling.

"Daniel?" The ball, which apparently was Merritt, asked in a stuffy voice.

Daniel walked over to the bed, "Merritt, are you sick?"

"What? No, of course not," Merritt coughed several times, "Just slept in," Merritt coughed again, "a little too long. Let me get changed."

Daniel sighed, "No Merritt, your sick. I'll just take Jack or Henley instead. And then one of them can stay home and take care of you." He began to walk out of the room.

"Take Jack," Merritt said quietly, "I'd rather be nursed by the beautiful Henley." Then Merritt reached over to his bedside table, pulled a tissue out of the tissue box, and blew his nose with the subtlety of a jackhammer.

Daniel ignored Merritt's comment and went to Henley's room to ask her to accompany him to the auto shop. He was about to open the door, but recalled Henley's complaints, and knocked first.

"Come in," Henley groaned.

Daniel came into the room and found Henley sitting up on her bed. She held her stomach and groaned, face scrunched up in discomfort. "Don't tell me… you're sick too?" Daniel complained.

Henley muttered. "I'm not sick, but my stomach hurts. I think I got food poisoning from the those scrambled eggs in the fridge I ate yesterday."

"Henley, there's no scrambled eggs in the fridge. We've been out of eggs these past few days," Daniel said slowly.

Henley turned a scary shade of green and groaned, clutching her stomach tighter.

"Well," Daniel said as he backed out of the room in fear of vomit, "Merritt's sick and you have food poisoning. I guess I'll take Jack to the auto shop quickly and then we'll come back to take care of you both." And with that, Daniel left the room to find Jack.

Daniel walked down the hallway and opened Jack's bedroom door. "Hey Jack, Merritt is sick and Henley's down with food poisoning so I was thinking that we –" Daniel began but with one look at Jack's face and he knew that Jack couldn't go.

Jack was head to toe covered with chicken pox. He said weakly, "Yeah… I don't think I can go Daniel. I've got this itch here, there, well, actually everywhere."

Daniel sighed. He could always try going to the auto shop by himself, therefore avoiding all the germs and sickness of his partners. But he knew his team needed him. "It's alright Jack. The auto shop can wait. I'm going to stay home and take care of you all."

"Thanks Daniel," Jack said as Daniel walked out of the door to get some things ready.

Daniel figured the first thing to do would be to see if Merritt had a fever. After gathering a few things, he went back to Merritt's room. "Hey Merritt, Henley's got food poisoning and Jack has chicken pox. So I've decided to stay home and take care of you all."

"Aww… no nurse Henley?" Merritt complained in his stuffy voice. "Then, will you wear this nurse outfit?"

Daniel didn't even question why Merritt had a nurse outfit. "No, now open up your mouth so I can take your temperature," Daniel demanded. Daniel used the thermometer and saw that Merritt had a fever. He put the thermometer away and handed Merritt a glass of water. "Okay," Daniel said as he walked towards the door, "I'm going to make you a fruit smoothie since fruits have Vitamin C. I've got a water vaporizer set up in the corner to help your stuffy nose. Here's some medicine. If you need anything, I put a little bell on your bedside table so that you can call me."

Next, Daniel ran around the house to pick up some things for Henley. He went inside Henley's room and found it empty. "Henley where'd you go?" Daniel asked.

"Here," Henley said as she walked back into the room. "I was in the bathroom for the tenth time in 15 minutes. Food poisoning sucks," she complained. She went back to her bed and sat down.

Daniel came over and took her temperature, relieved to find that she didn't have a fever. He said, "The good news is you don't have a fever. I dug around the cupboard in the kitchen and found some Gatorade, which has electrolytes to help replace some fluids. I put the Gatorade and water next on your desk. I'll be back with some anti-diarrhea and anti-vomit medicine. And I also put a bicycle horn on your desk. If you need anything, just honk."

Henley smiled weakly, "Thanks Danny."

"Anytime," Daniel smiled back. He left the room, gathered some more supplies, and headed over to Jack's room.

"Hey Daniel," Jack said, scratching his stomach.

Daniel noticed the scratching and immediately slapped Jack's hand away. "There will be no scratching," Daniel stated. He took Jack's temperature and was happy to see that there was no fever.

"But I'm so itchy," Jack complained.

Daniel said, "Well, if you took your chicken pox vaccine, this wouldn't happen. But you'll be fine. The only thing you have to worry about is not scratching." Daniel took a pair of socks, stuffed tissue in them, then stuffed each of Jack's hands in a sock, and taped it to Jack's arm.

"I look ridiculous!" Jack whined. "Why are you making me look like a sock monkey?" Jack questioned as he held his sock-covered hands in emphasis.

Daniel rolled his eyes, "So you won't scratch. Now then, I got some ice packs for you that might help ease the itching. I also put this toy gong, which for some reason I found in the living room, on your desk for you. Hit it if you need me for something."

"Thanks," Jack replied.

And so Daniel left Jack's room and headed over to the kitchen to start making Merritt's fruit smoothie. Daniel opened the fridge and found oranges, apples, strawberries, bananas, and a watermelon. He figured oranges would have the most Vitamin C, so he decided to squeeze orange juice instead of blend a smoothie. Daniel took out some oranges and a juicer.

Suddenly, he heard a honk.

Running over to Henley's room, he asked, "Henley? What's the matter?"

Henley groaned, "I need that anti-vomit medicine. I feel it about to come back –" Henley barfed on the floor.

Daniel groaned, but ran to get a mop. He returned, pinched his nose, and worked on the mess.

"I'm so sorry Daniel!" Henley exclaimed with guilt.

Daniel sighed, "It's fine Henley. I know you didn't do it on purpose. And here's your anti-vomit medicine. Take two every –"

Suddenly, he heard a bell.

"I have to go," Daniel said as he ran over to Merritt's room. "What Merritt?" Daniel asked.

Merritt moaned, "Where's my smoothie Daniel?"

"It's coming," Daniel replied, annoyed. He went to the kitchen and saw that the juicer had squeezed a glass of orange juice. Bringing it back to Merritt's room, Daniel set it on the table and said, "Here Merritt. Drink."

Merritt poked his head out form under the blankets and looked at the glass. "That's not a smoothie Daniel," Merritt complained.

"It's orange juice," Daniel replied impatiently.

Merritt picked up the glass and examined it. "It has pulp. I don't like pulp," Merritt sniffled.

"Fine!" Daniel yelled angrily. He took his hand and reached in, pulling out some of the pulp from the orange juice. "There, no pulp. Happy?" Daniel demanded.

Merritt stared at Daniel until Daniel sighed and said, "Fine. I'm sorry. I'm just a bit stressed with you and Henley and Jack to take care off. I'll make you a smoothie." As Daniel left with the orange juice, pulp dripped on the floor.

"Daniel, you got some pulp on the floor," Merritt called out as Daniel left.

Daniel went back into the kitchen to make Merritt a smoothie. As he was about to, he heard a gong. Daniel hurried over to Jack's room and found Jack hitting himself with his sock-covered hands.

"DANIEL. I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE. THE ITCH. IT BURNS," Jack exclaimed. Jack's spots were everywhere from head to toe.

Daniel pulled out some anti-itch lotion and handed it to Jack, saying, "Here, put this lotion on your body."

Jack held up his sock-covered hands pointedly.

Daniel sighed and squirted some lotion in his hand. He began to rub Jack's arms and face with the lotion. Daniel was in the middle of helping Jack put on the lotion when he heard a bell, again.

Quickly, Daniel squirted a bunch of lotion on Jack's body and rubbed it half-heartedly. Then, Daniel ran out the door.

"Wait Daniel! You didn't rub the lotion thoroughly!" Jack whined. Patches and globs of the light pink lotion were present all over his skin. "And I can't rub it in by myself!" Jack added.

Merritt rang the bell repeatedly until Daniel burst through the door. "Daniel, where's my guava smoothie?" Merritt demanded.

Daniel gave a confused look, "Guava? Who said anything about guavas? Hell, we don't even have guavas!"

Merritt rolled his eyes and stated simply, "I only drink guava smoothies."

Daniel screamed in frustration and quickly made a smoothie in the kitchen. He threw in oranges, peels included, apples, and strawberries. Running back into Merritt's room, he heard a gong being hit repeatedly.

"I'M COMING IN A SECOND!" Daniel shouted towards Jack's room.

He ran into Merritt's room with the smoothie. "Here," Daniel said exasperated, "Your smoothie."

"Is it guava?" Merritt demaned.

Daniel took a Sharpie marker from Merritt's desk and wrote the word GUAVA on the cup. "It is now," Daniel said, annoyed.

Merritt coughed. "Where's my straw?" he asked.

Daniel returned to the kitchen and came back with a straw. He stuck the straw into the smoothie.

"Is it bendy?" Merritt questioned.

To answer his question, Daniel angrily took the straw and bent it so hard it wouldn't stand back up. As he was about to yell at Merritt for being ungrateful, he heard a repeated honking.

"Daniel, where's that anti-diarrhea medicine? I've been running back and forth from the bathroom to my room once every 5 minutes!" Henley groaned.

"DANIEL, THERE ARE BLOBS OF LOTION ON MY BODY!" Jack exclaimed as he hit the gong repeatedly.

**1 hour later …**

Merritt rang the bell and yelled, "Daniel, my water vaporizer is out of water. Go refill it!"

Henley honked the horn and shouted, "Danny – this is the wrong medicine! This is fever reducing medicine, not anti-diarrhea!"

"SHUT UP GUYS! DANIEL'S RUBBING LOTION ON ME!" Jack exclaimed.

As they argued, Daniel had finished Jack's lotion business and ran to attend to Merritt and Henley. He got water to refill the water vaporizer, took Henley's fever reducing medicine and gave it to Merritt, gave Henley the correct medicine, and sat down on a kitchen chair, exhausted physically from running and mentally from his teammates' demands.

But as he relaxed, he heard the bells, the honks, and the gongs. At times like this, Daniel just wanted to run away from the house screaming and never return.

"DANIEL! I'M STILL ITCHY!" Jack whined.

"Danny!" Henley shouted, "The toilet is clogged!"

"Daniel I'm out of tissues! Get me the soft kind, with the built in lotion!" Merritt demanded.

"Danny, the toilet's overflowing!" Henley screamed.

"DANIEL THERE'S A SPIDER!" Jack yelled.

Merritt exclaimed, "Daniel! Where's my soft tissues?"

"DANIEL THE SPIDER CRAWLING UP MY ARM! DANIEL GET IT OFF! GET IT OFF!" Jack cried.

**5 hours later…**

"Danny I barfed again!" Henley complained.

"I need more water!" Merritt stated.

Jack yelled, "DANIEL! I'M PEELING!"

"Ew Jack!" Henley replied. "Don't get your skin flakes all over the carpet!"

"LIKE YOU'RE ONE TO TALK MISS BARF-ON-EVERYTHING!" Jack snapped.

"Guys – how can a fever induced person sleep with so much noise?!" Merritt yelled.

"DANIEL. KNOCK MERRITT OUT WITH A HAMMER. HE'S UPSETTING THE SICK BAY," Jack demanded.

"Great way to speak to your sick loved one," Merritt commented. "Daniel, I need more smoothie. And while you're at it, make me some eggs. What's that? We don't have eggs? Well why don't we get them from Jack?"

"UGH! Don't remind me of eggs!" Henley exclaimed, and thinking of the eggs just caused her to barf again.

"HA. HA. VERY FUNNY MERRITT. YOU'RE JOKES ARE SO BAD THAT HENLEY THREW UP JUST FROM HEARING THEM!" Jack laughed.

**3 hours later …**

Daniel sat at the kitchen table, relieved it was finally over.

No, Daniel didn't kill his teammates, but he certainly came very, very close in these past 24 hours.

Finally, Merritt's fever reducing medicine caused drowsiness and put Merritt to sleep. Finally, Henley stopped having to run to the bathroom and could rest. And finally, Jack's itching calmed down and he was able to doze off after Daniel read him a story, which Jack firmly demanded Daniel do.

Daniel couldn't believe that three people, with common household sicknesses, could cause him so much stress and so much fatigue. Daniel had seen more bodily fluids, from all ends, in one day than he had ever seen in his life.

Yes, Daniel thought, finally he could relax. And with that soothing thought, Daniel went to sleep at last.

The next morning, Daniel woke up to find that he fell asleep at the kitchen table. As he opened his eyes, he groaned and wondered why his stomach hurt. Getting up, he noticed that he had a massive headache and began to feel dizzy.

Henley came into the kitchen and spotted him, "Oh! There you are Danny I just wanted to say thank you for taking care of – Whoa! Danny, you don't look so good."

"What are you talking about?" Daniel groaned.

As Henley was about to answer, Jack came in and said, "Thanks Daniel! My chicken pox is finally gone – and moved on to you! Hey! You didn't get your chicken pox vaccine either, hypocrite!" Jack still some faint red spots on his body, but was clearly much better than yesterday.

Daniel scrunched his face in confusion, "What?"

"Hey Daniel, I think you better stay home for today," Henley said.

"Daniel!" Merritt gasped as he walked in. "Man, you look sick."

"You guys are being ridiculous," Daniel muttered. "I'm just a little queasy and have a headache. That's all. And I'm a bit itchy on my elbow here, but that's it." Daniel moved to get up from the chair.

"Nice try dude, " Jack said, "But you're sick. I think you have the chicken pox."

"And a fever," Merritt added.

"And I think it wasn't the eggs I ate. It must have been the ham and cheese sandwich we split the other day," Henley said sheepishly.

"So that means that today," Jack began

"We'll take care of you," Henley finished.

"And I'll even put on the nurse outfit," Merritt winked.


	11. Injury

**Thanks for all the incredible reviews, favorites, and follows! This chapter a combination of two requests from Alexagleek and ArtemisBAMF1218. These both wanted Daniel to get jealous, so I decided to cut Daniel some slack and make it all one chapter. I hope both of you don't mind that I tweaked the ideas a little bit. **

**Disclaimer: Don't own ****Now You See Me**

Injury

Jack came into Henley's room, bored and looking for something to do. Merritt and Daniel went to the auto shop to fix the car. At first Jack had been practicing with his cards, but now he wanted some company.

"Hey Jack," Henley greeted when she saw him walk into her room. She had lots of tools spread out on her bedroom floor and she was fixing something.

"Henley, I'm so bored," Jack complained.

Henley rolled her eyes, "What do you want me to do about it?"

"Aren't you bored too? What are you doing?" Jack asked.

"I'm in the middle of fixing my jet pack," Henley replied. "I used it for one of my old escapes, but it broke down and I haven't had a chance to fix it until now."

"You have a jet pack?" Jack said excitedly, eyes lighting up.

Henley saw his look and immediately shook her head, "Oh no Jack. I haven't even tested it, so you can't play with it. Now go away so I can finish."

Jack left the room dejectedly. He had no clue Henley owned a jet pack. And once he found out, he was told he could never play with it. What kind of person shows someone a jet pack and then puts a don't-touch policy on it, Jack wondered.

Well, Jack decided that he wasn't going to have any of it.

He went to his room, but left the door open, and waited. He was waiting for his golden opportunity. When Henley realized she needed something, she left her room, and thus left the jet pack unguarded.

And while she was gone, Jack took the jet pack and ran outside. He also went into the garden tool shed and grabbed the ladder. He slowly made his way up the roof of the house with the jet pack in his hands. Once he got to the top, Jack readjusted the straps on the jetpack.

Henley came back into her room and realized the jet pack was gone. She didn't need to think for long before realizing what had happened. "JACK YOU IDIOT! Get down from there! I haven't tested the jet pack!" Henley screamed as she ran outside.

But Jack ignored her warning and turned the jet pack on. He heard the engine hum and looked ahead. Pushing the start button, he braced himself for the thrill that only Superman has ever felt.

And it turned out that only Superman got to feel that thrill. When Jack tried to take off, he flew a few feet before the engine died. He flew straight into the tree in the front yard. He got entangled in the branches and wailed, "HENLEY!"

Henley groaned, "I told you so." She ran to the tree and looked up at Jack.

"Henley get me down right now!" Jack squeaked.

"Okay hang in there Jack!" Henley yelled. Henley ran her hands through her hair and thought hard. She decided to call Daniel and Merritt for some help. She pulled out her phone. She quickly dialed a number and let it ring.

"Hello? Henley?" Merritt asked.

"Yeah, it's me. Are you guys getting home anytime soon?" Henley asked quickly.

"Hold on, I'll put you on speaker phone, Daniel's being controlling and wants to hear the conversation too," Merritt said.

"Very funny Merritt," Daniel muttered.

Henley tapped her foot impatiently, "Guys, are you coming home or what?"

"Why? What's the matter?" Daniel asked, seriousness in his voice.

"It's nothing super urgent, just come back soon because –" Henley stopped talking when she watched in horror as Jack drop a few branches. She hastily dropped the phone on the ground, without hanging up, and ran over to help Jack as best as she could.

"Henley?" Merritt and Daniel asked through the phone.

She began to climb up the tree. After a few branches, Henley said loudly, "This is getting difficult, Jack!"

"Don't worry about it," Jack said soothingly. Meanwhile, he held onto the branch for dear life. He watched Henley anxiously and suggested, "Spread your legs out and use your arms."

Henley did as Jack suggested and said back, "This isn't very comfortable."

"It's alright. You'll get use to it, now hurry," Jack replied. After all, Jack was already use to clinging to the tree for his life and it had only been a few minutes.

Henley reached out to the next branch and almost slipped, "Ah!"

"You alright Henley? Does it hurt?" Jack asked as he tried to see if she was alright. As he tried to look down, he slipped slightly and grunted, trying to get back up.

"I'm fine," Henley reassured, "It's just I've never been in this position before." She had never climbed a tree as high as the one in their front yard.

Meanwhile, Merritt and Daniel were still on the phone. They didn't hang up because they were worried about Henley. Which meant that Merritt and Daniel heard Jack and Henley's conversation. And their conversation, taken out of context, could imply something completely different from reality.

Merritt whistled, "Whoa. I think we're not suppose to be listening, perhaps I should hang up –"

Daniel quickly interrupted, "Don't hang up the phone Merritt."

"Well, I think that we're not really suppose to hear Jack and Henley… doing something," Merritt stated, "It's like an invasion of privacy and according to the Constitution –"

"Shut up Merritt," Daniel ground out. He didn't want to jump to conclusions, and he was sure that Henley wouldn't give Jack the time of day. Right? After all, what did Jack have that he didn't have?

Merritt watched Daniel grip the steering wheel with an iron fist and noted Daniel's clenched jaw and creased eyebrows. He didn't know what the context of Jack and Henley's conversation was, but he was very sure that it wasn't what Daniel was thinking. Jack and Henley were close, but more as family rather than sexual or romantic. Yet, Daniel, as logical and careful as he was, couldn't seem to put this idea through his head.

Back to Jack and Henley, the situation was still at a standstill. Henley was slowly inching up the tree and Jack was still hugging the trunk of the tree desperately.

"Jack, it hurts," Henley complained, "I feel so sore." She had to admit, she was slightly out of shape since she wasn't running away from the FBI anymore.

"I know, I feel the pain too," Jack sympathized. He hugged the tree with so much strength he started to feel stiff and his arms began to hurt.

Jack cheered when he saw that Henley was almost at where he was. Trying to help, he said, "Can you move a little this way?" He tried to direct her towards the more sturdy looking branch.

"Like this?" Henley asked. She gasped when her hand slipped from the branch.

"Yup, you got it!" Jack exclaimed. He held his arm out and helped Henley get to where he was on the tree. Now, the two were on opposite branches, but the same level on the tree. Henley helped Jack take off the jet pack and held it as he tried to get down first.

Henley thought about how to get down. She pointed to the branch next to her. "Okay, try to put your leg over my leg" Henley instructed. She felt that this was the best branch to go down from, and tried to direct Jack as to how to go around her.

"Hey, move your head so that I can get through," Jack said. He successfully bypassed Henley and made it to the branch. He continued to try and move around Henley and get down.

Henley shifted a bit as Jack passed by her.

"Sorry Henley! Did I hurt you?" Jack asked guiltily.

"No, you're fine," Henley reassured. "If anything, it tickled."

"Now, I'm going to put my hands between your legs," Jack said as he tried to reach the next branch.

Henley assessed the likeliness that Jack would successfully reach the branch. "Hm…" Henley warned, "I don't know…" The branch Jack was trying to get to wasn't very sturdy looking.

"I can do it! Please?" Jack questioned.

"It's so hard though…" Henley cautioned.

Jack took the risk and successfully made it to the branch. He looked back up at Henley proudly, "See? And you wanted to stop. All it takes is the right position!"

Henley laughed and said, "You're pretty flexible!"

Henley began to follow. She tried to figure out the most successful route around Jack's body and stated, "Tilt your head a little this way alright?"

After a few more movements, Jack started to feel tired, "Can we just finish before Merritt or Daniel find out?" Jack would probably die from embarrassment if the other horsemen knew he got stuck in a tree.

"Yeah, good idea. They would freak out for sure," Henley agreed. She would get a huge scolding from Daniel about dangers of jet packs.

At this point of the phone call, Merritt's jaw dropped dramatically. Before, he had the utmost confidence that they weren't listening on their friend's sex time, now he wasn't so sure.

"Ha ha," Merritt laughed awkwardly, "This isn't what it seems?" Merritt quickly hung up the phone.

Daniel on the other hand, showed no new reaction. Except for the fact that he now went 120 mph, on a beat up truck, racing to get home. Daniel was determined to put an end to it, and especially, to Jack.

As Daniel sped the car home ready to kill, Jack finally reached the ground. Henley followed after him and Jack helped Henley down the tree. They smiled and high fived, glad to finally be out of the tree.

Henley noticed her Jacket was out of place and began to fix it. Jack ran his hand through his hair trying to fix it.

As they did that, Daniel pulled the car up the driveway and got out of the car angrily. He practically charged at Jack and tackled the teen to the ground. He held Jack by the shirt collar and demanded, "What were you thinking!?"

Jack held his hands up in defense, "I was thinking it would be fun." He wondered how Daniel had found out about the jet pack and the tree situation.

"Where were you guys?" Merritt asked from behind.

"We were in the tree," Henley admitted.

"WHAT?" Daniel turned to face Henley. "YOU HAD SEX WITH JACK IN A TREE?"

"What?" Jack shouted.

"What?" Henley asked, confused. "Who said anything about sex?"

"Oh don't act innocent with me," Daniel stated, "You left the phone call on and we heard all of it. And when we came, you guys were putting on your clothes again."

Henley rolled her eyes, "I don't know what you heard but I was helping Jack get out of the tree. He flew my jet pack right into it," She began to head inside the house.

Daniel didn't say anything for a while, "What?"

Merritt laughed to himself about the whole situation. "I guess we misunderstood," Merritt shrugged. He followed Henley into the house.

Jack finally freed himself from Daniel's threatening hold and ran back into the house, worried that Daniel would still try to kill him.

"But… the groans… and the hands between the legs… and the grunts… the tilting heads... thet tickling... the messed up clothing... " Daniel stuttered, still standing in the same place.


	12. Singer

**Thanks for the remarkable reviews, follows, and favorites! I think you all notice that if some requests can be combined, I do combine them. I hope no one objects to this, but it saves my fingers some typing. **

**This chapter fills the requests of Emily and LucyLovesYou, a brother/sister relationship between Jack and Henley.**

**Disclaimer: Don't own Jack Wilder or Henley Reeves, or ****Now You See Me**

Singer

Henley woke up with a loud yawn. It was now about 3:00pm in the afternoon and she had just taken a relaxing nap. She sat up in her bed and decided to go watch some TV in the living room. Slipping on her yellow duck slippers, she walked out of her room towards the living room.

As she walked, she heard a faint singing voice. Though quiet, Henley could hear the talent, the skill of the singer. Henley stopped mid-step and followed the voice. When she reached her destination, she found herself at the guys' bathroom door.

Henley thought for a moment and remembered that Merritt had recently bought a shower radio so that, according to Merritt, he could cultivate his singing potential. Merritt had repeatedly asserted that he was going to incorporate singing into his mentalist acts, much to the discouragement of Merritt's teammates. None of the Horsemen had the heart to tell Merritt that he sounded like a dying cat imitating a dying cat.

Henley pressed her ear against the bathroom door. Though she didn't hear any background music, she figured the radio was turned to a radio station for those who just listened to pure vocals. Like a radio station just for solo singers. Whoever was inside must have turned on the shower radio.

The shower was turned on, and the running water muffled a bit of the voice, but Henley didn't care.

Henley sat on the hallway floor with her back against the bathroom door, just listening. The voice was singing something that resembled pop. Although Henley wasn't exactly trailing the pop songs that were popular, she could tell that the song wasn't the easiest to sing. Curiously, she wondered to herself if the voice sang other genres of songs.

As if answer her silent question, the voice switched genre after finishing the pop song. The handsome, inviting voice now switched to a heavenly opera voice.

Henley, though slightly confused, listened in awe. This voice would definitely be the death of her, she thought. She closed her eyes and harmonized softly along with the voice.

The voice finished the opera song, and continued powering through many different genres. It didn't sing the full songs of any genre, but just bits and pieces, almost as if teasing Henley. The voice sang everything from jazz to rap.

And with every song, Henley loved the voice more and more. Henley had never been one to follow actors, singers, or anything like that. Yet, she found herself wanting to squeal with delight. And Henley never squealed.

As Henley was pressed against the bathroom door listening to this wonderful singing voice, Jack was on the other side showering. He refused to use the shower radio that Merritt bought because Merritt had broken it so that it only played Merritt's favorite stations. As a result, Jack resorted to singing a few tunes for himself as he showered.

When Jack was in school, he was one of those people who never joined choir, but could have beaten the choir just by himself. He never really saw the need to display his talent, and singing never really became useful in his life. After all, Jack used his card flinging skills more than his wide vocal range. So, Jack seldom sang except for when he was bored, working on something, or when he was in the shower.

As he finished, Jack turned off the water and quickly took a towel off the rack. Wrapping it around himself, he tied the towel around his waist and took another towel for his hair. Jack fumbled around the bathroom to find his deodorant amongst all the junk that Daniel and Merritt put in the bathroom. Then, he went to find his razor and shaved. He sang lightly as he completed his daily post-shower routine.

Jack finished cleaning himself up. He went to the door and turned the door knob – and found Henley tumbling into him.

"Henley?" Jack asked in slight disbelief.

Henley blushed and responded, "Oh… hey Jack."

Jack helped her up and smirked. "I know you want me, but following me into the bathroom is a little excessive isn't it?" For effect, he struck a pose, still wet with a towel still wrapped around him.

Henley turned even redder. "I didn't," Henley scoffed. "I just heard this amazing voice and followed it."

Jack smirked.

Henley paused a while before she asked, "So hey, who is this singer that you were listening to? I've become a fan-girl."

Jack paused in confusion. He was the one singing. "Henley, you never fan-girl over anything, be it singers or movie stars." Jack then realized that Henley probably thought the shower radio was on, and that he was listening to a singer on the radio. So, she didn't know the voice she had heard belonged to him.

Henley shoved him lightly but didn't deny, "Well, life is full of new experiences. I don't understand why you make fun of my taste in music, when you listened to that voice on the radio too."

Jack didn't say anything and began to walk to his room. Unknowing to Henley, he held a satisfied smile on his face. He was a bit smug now, but who wouldn't be? He knew Henley loved Daniel and had no intention of getting in between that mess. However, Jack couldn't say that a pretty girl complimenting his singing wasn't flattering. So when stunning escape artist extraordinaire Henley Reeves complimented his singing, that just made his day.

"Wait Jack – who's the singer?" Henley yelled as she followed behind him.


	13. Fireworks

**Thanks for the super reviews, favorites, and follows! I'm sorry I didn't update yesterday, but Happy (Belated) Fourth of July! I hope you guys (well, those of you in the U.S.) were safe and had a memorable holiday.**

**I have a lot of requests, but I thought it would be fun to do a Fourth of July chapter. This plot, embarrassing as it is, actually happened at the party I was at yesterday. **

**Disclaimer: Don't own ****Now You See Me**

Fireworks

Today was the Fourth of July, and the Four Horsemen agreed that they would have a party. They figured that since they were always on the run, there wouldn't be many chances to just celebrate and party on a holiday. The Eye didn't exactly follow public holidays.

So, the team had a small party just for themselves. They set up the backyard and had a Fourth of July barbeque dinner. Daniel and Henley helped decorate the backyard with American flags, red, white, and blue paper, and lots of glitter. Merritt was on the grill cooking barbeque ribs, chicken, kabobs, and burgers. Jack had gone out to buy some fireworks that they could play with after dinner.

The Horsemen sat at a table that Daniel pulled out from the garden shed. The table was under the decorated porch. The weather was warm, with a slight breeze, and the sky was so clear that one could see the stars in the sky. The team ate and chatted through the night.

Jack noticed that everyone was done eating and went back inside the house to get the fireworks he had bought. Excitedly he said, "Guys! It's fireworks time!"

Henley looked skeptically at the package, "I've never played with fireworks before. Are you sure these are safe?"

Jack shrugged. "I've never played with them either."

"I didn't even know you could get your own fireworks," Merritt admitted sheepishly. "What about you Daniel? Oh wait – you don't know either. You know why I knew you didn't know? Because you can't even cook much less use fireworks."

Daniel glared as Jack and Henley giggled. "What if I really did know, Merritt?"

"The day you know something I don't," Merritt stated smugly, "will be the day when I admit that you are better than me. Which, is never."

Jack pouted, "So that means we can't play with them? Since none of us know how to?"

"Okay, calm down. We can probably figure it out," Henley laughed.

Jack pulled out the fireworks he bought and looked at the instructions. "Um… the directions are all in Spanish. Anyone speak Spanish? The only thing I can figure out is that these are sparklers."

"It's alright," Merritt said as he picked up a firework. "How hard can it be?" He picked up a sparkler. "I think I light it here..." Merritt mumbled. He held the metal rod and lit a spark using a lighter. A second later the sparkler was, well, sparkling and giving off sparks from the tip.

"Whoa!" Jack shouted. "That's so cool – let me try!" Jack picked up a sparkler as well, lit it, and began to run around while waving the sparkler like a crazy person. "Oooooo..." Jack smiled in awe.

Daniel went to get a sparkler and tried to light it up. But for some reason, the lighter wouldn't light the sparker. "It appears to be broken," Daniel stated authoritatively.

Henley took a sparkler and then the lighter from Daniel. She lit up the sparkler after the second try. "Oh yes, Danny. So broken," Henley smiled. She then waved her sparkler around and watched the trail of sparks in the air.

Daniel picked up the sparkler and tried again, but with no success.

"Want me to help?" Merritt suggested.

"No!" Daniel shouted angrily. "I know how to use a lighter!"

Jack's sparkler died out and he took another one from the package. He looked at Daniel who flicked the lighter on repeatedly and felt a little scared to ask for the lighter. "Uh… Daniel? Mind if I use it real quick?" Jack asked timidly.

Daniel said nothing but threw the closed lighter at Jack. Jack caught it, lit his sparkler, gave the lighter back, and proceeded to run around while waving the sparkler like a little kid.

Daniel was at a loss for words. He was grumpy because he really did want to play with a sparkler, but wanted to light the sparkler himself. And thus, Daniel kept trying and trying to light the sparkler.

Jack took the sparkler and wrote his name in the air. "Look! I spelled JACK in the air. Magic!" Jack exclaimed. He continued to run around spelling words in the air.

"Daniel, can I borrow the lighter? Come on, you've had it forever. Let's put the lighter to good use," Merritt stated after a while. He twirled the sparkler around in his hands, waiting to light it.

"Hurry up Danny! You have to share the lighter," Henley complained. She too wanted to borrow the lighter.

"Hold on guys," Daniel cried desperately. "I just want to light one sparkler, is that so much to ask? I mean really – HEY I GOT IT! LOOK AT MY SPARKLER, IT'S ACTUALLY SPARKLING!" Daniel, while in the middle of whining, had actually managed to light his sparkler.

"That's great," Henley said idly and she quickly snatched the lighter away from Daniel.

Merritt chuckled, "It's about time."

Daniel moved the sparkler through the air happily. As he played with the sparkler, he gave a ranting speech about the importance of perseverance and dedication, not that any of the Horsemen were actually listening of course. He was so proud of himself and so absorbed in his speech that he didn't even realize the flame of the sparkler had reached where Daniel's hand held the sparkler.

The sparkler burned Daniel's hand. "OUCH!" Daniel shrieked and threw the sparkler randomly to stop it from burning his hand. After he threw the sparkler, he ran to the garden hose and tried to cool his burn with cold water.

The sparkler flew in the air and headed towards Jack. Jack had been reaching for a new sparkler, which was placed on the porch steps. When he heard Daniel scream, Jack saw the sparkler heading towards him. "I DON'T WANT TO DIE!" Jack cried out as he jumped into the Jacuzzi for cover.

"What happened?" Henley turned around when she heard a splash. She saw Jack in the Jacuzzi and ran to help him. "Why'd you jump into the Jacuzzi?" she questioned.

Merritt, who was with Henley on the other side of the backyard, also ran to help Jack. However, something bigger caught his attention. "THE PORCH IS ON FIRE!" Merritt screamed.

Henley looked up at the porch to see a smoldering fire engulfing the porch. "We have to put out the fire! Hurry!" Henley demanded.

Daniel, who sighed in relief after his burn cooled down, now noticed the fire. He had been so engulfed in his small burn that he hadn't paid attention to what had been going on. He quickly ran to the fire, pulling the garden hose along, and tried to put out the fire.

Merritt ran over to Daniel and tried to take the fire hose away from him. "No Daniel! You have to put out the fire from the base!" Merritt yelled. He tried to wrestle the hose from Daniel's grasp.

"Shut up Merritt! It doesn't matter where you put out the fire!" Daniel replied, not letting go of the hose.

"Yes it does! There's a strategy that puts the fire out instantly -" Merritt said before being interrupted.

"You're getting everything wet! Just let me handle this!" Daniel scolded.

As the two wrestled with the hose, water sprayed everywhere. The water eventually did put out the fire, but also got everything, and everyone, in the backyard wet.

And so, the Fourth of July party was cut short as all the Horsemen went inside to dry themselves off.

They sat at the kitchen table still slightly wet and wondering what had just happened. It was now really late at night, but the Horsemen still heard fireworks going off in other parts of the town.

Merritt made some hot chocolate and carried four cups over to the table. He passed one out to each of the Horsemen and sat down in an empty chair. "Some night, huh?" Merritt chuckled.

"Okay," Henley voiced what they were all wondering, "What on earth just happened?"

Jack, Merritt, and Henley immediately looked at Daniel.

"Really guys, you're complete and utter faith in me is so strong," Daniel muttered sarcastically. He held his hands up in defense and said, "Well, I was only able to light one sparkler tonight. How could I have ever caused a fire?"


	14. Dinner

**Thanks for the great reviews, follows, and favorites! I can't believe it's near 100 reviews - you all are the best! This request is from HawtDog, where Merritt messes around with things. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: Do not own Merritt or ****Now You See Me**

Dinner

Merritt decided that he was the greatest matchmaker in the world.

Well, he always believed he was the greatest everything in the world. But what he was going to do today would prove that he was the greatest matchmaker ever. Seriously, Merritt thought, I could totally start a business and make millions.

Today, Merritt was going to set up a nice, romantic evening dinner between Daniel and Henley. The clearly meant-to-be couple was lagging in relationship advancement, so Merritt decided to work his hands of magic in the love department.

His teammates were in their respective rooms, which was perfect for Merritt to talk to Daniel and Henley individually.

First, he went to Henley's room. Merritt tapped on the door and waited.

"Come in," Henley said from inside.

Merritt stepped inside her room and closed the door. "So Henley, are you busy tonight?" Merritt asked.

Henley looked up from her book. She stared suspiciously at Merritt before replying, "No. Why?"

"I was thinking we could have a nice dinner. I think Jack and Daniel are going to eat at the burger place, and I don't really feel like having burgers. Would you stay with me?" Merritt asked innocently.

Henley didn't let go of her suspicion but smiled, "Sure. Are you going to make some of your famous paella?"

"Definitely," Merritt winked. "Just, dress up a bit fancy today?'

Henley raised an eyebrow.

"Well," Merritt defended, seeing Henley's questioning look. "My paella deserves to be eaten by the finest mouths attached to people who are dressed in their finest."

"All right, Merritt," Henley laughed. Sometimes, she wondered what went through his mind.

"Great! Dinner will be coming soon. Meet me in the kitchen at around 7:00," Merritt said as he walked out of her bedroom.

Perfect, thought Merritt. Merritt walked over to Daniel's room next. The door was open and Merritt found Daniel engrossed in his blueprints, as usual.

Daniel looked up after hearing Merritt's footsteps. "What?" Daniel demanded.

"Hey man, want to have dinner with me?" Merritt questioned. He figured that with people like Daniel, there was no point to beat around the bush.

Daniel stared at Merritt for a while before repeating, "What?"

Merritt sighed, "Jack really wants burgers, but I don't want to eat burgers. Henley offered to take him to the burger place in town, so I wanted some company to eat at home with me."

Daniel stared skeptically at Merritt. "You want… my company?"

"Yes," Merritt replied.

Daniel looked up and thought for a while before responding, "No."

"Why?" Merritt whined. He knew Daniel was going to be difficult. That was just how Daniel was.

"Because, I have better things to do. Besides, what if I wanted burgers as well?" Daniel posed.

"Then you can suck it up," Merritt snapped.

Daniel rolled his eyes, "That's a great way to get someone to do a favor for you."

Merritt sighed and knew he would have to bring out the big guns. "Listen," Merritt said calmly, "You can stay and eat dinner with me at home, or I'll tell Jack and Henley that you ate the ice cream in the fridge. Don't deny it! I'm a mentalist remember?"

Daniel glared at Merritt, "Ugh… fine."

"Great!" Merritt exclaimed. "So, I'm making paella, dress nicely, and come to the kitchen at 7:00!" And with that Merritt quickly left the room before Daniel could change his mind.

Merritt first set up the kitchen so that there were only two seats. He went outside, cut some trumpet vine flowers, and arranged them in vase before placing them on the table. He worked on his paella, and set the table just like the restaurants did. While Merritt cooked his paella, he made smoothies. After he cooked the main dish and made drinks, he worked on a peach cobbler for dessert. He even made the cobbler in the shape of a heart.

And when Merritt looked at the clock, it was just a few minutes before 7:00pm. He smiled and dimmed the lights just enough to create a romantic atmosphere.

Jack was shuffling his cards when Henley came into his room. She was wearing a nice black dress and red heels.

"Whoa Henley, got a hot date?" Jack winked.

Henley rolled her eyes, "I was suppose to have dinner with Merritt because you wanted burgers, but I accidentally broke my watch. Could you do me a favor and go eat with him in my place. I know you wanted burgers but…"

Jack scrunched his face in confusion. "What?" Jack asked. He didn't want burgers, but was in fact in a paella-eating mood.

"I know it's last minute, but please?" Henley pouted.

Jack sighed. "Sure," he replied.

"Thanks! I have to go before the repair shop closes," Henley said quickly. She gave Jack a quick hug and ran out of his room.

Jack got up and headed towards the kitchen. On his way, Daniel stopped him. Daniel was wearing a suit and tie.

"Hey, is it dressy Friday or something?" Jack commented.

Daniel ignored Jack and quickly asked, "Hey Jack, I need you to eat dinner with Merritt. He asked me to, but I think there's a leak in the roof above my room. I want to fix it in case it rains. I know you wanted burgers, but this is important. Get it? Got it? Good." And with that, Daniel left Jack standing in the hallway confused.

Jack wondered why he was the only one who didn't know Merritt was making dinner. And he also wondered why his teammates all thought he wanted burgers.

When Merritt heard footsteps, he smiled and said, "Welcome monsieur and mademoiselle." He even did a little bow.

"Merritt?" Jack came into the kitchen.

Merritt looked up, "Jack? No, no Jack. Why are you here? Go away!"

Jack looked offended. "Henley said she had to run down to the repair store because her watch broke, but she didn't want you to be lonely. So she asked me to eat dinner with you. Then, I ran into Daniel and he said that there was something wrong with the roof and went to fix it. He asked me to eat dinner with you in his place."

"No no no. I don't understand," Merritt mumbled to himself.

"What I don't understand is why you invited everyone else but me!" Jack demanded. "And you even made your famous paella!"

Merritt put his head in his hands and wondered how everything could've gotten so bad. "What am I going to do now?" he groaned to himself. Daniel and Henley were supposed to show up, Merritt would slip out, and the next day, the two would be a couple. And on their wedding day, they would shower Merritt with gifts as thanks for helping them become a couple.

While Merritt was complaining, Jack had gone over and sat at one of the table settings. As Merritt talked to himself, Jack was enjoying the delicious paella.

Merritt sighed and looked up, to find Jack already halfway done eating the paella.

"Well," Jack stated defensively when he saw Merritt staring at him, "I wasn't going to let the food go to waste. Hey, what's for dessert?"


	15. Washing Machine

**Thanks for the thoughtful reviews, favorites, and follows! This chapter is a request from Lupin fan 1, where we bring back Dylan. I thought it would also be fun to bring in Alma, since I haven't done that before. **

**Disclaimer: Don't own Dylan or Alma or**** Now You See Me**

Washing Machine

Every week, the Four Horsemen sent one teammate to the local Laundromat to do all the group's laundry for the week. Yes, they use to have a washer and dryer combined into one washing machine unit sitting in their house.

And this is the story of the death of that laundry machine and why the laundry room became storage space for Horsemen junk.

It started out with the magicians sitting in the kitchen eating sandwiches for lunch. Henley was leaning against the table, Jack and Daniel were sitting at the table, and Merritt was sitting on top of the table.

"Ugh… what is that smell?" Henley asked in disgust.

Merritt pointed at Jack and replied, "Jack was lifting weights before he came to eat. It's Jack sweat."

"Excuse me? That's the smell of man right there," Jack huffed.

"Whatever the smell is, please just change your shirt," Henley said.

Jack frowned, "I would, but my shirts are all waiting to be washed. Henley, you have to step on it."

Henley glared, "I don't see why I'm the one that has to do the laundry. Any one of you is perfectly capable of doing your own laundry."

Jack rolled his eyes, "But… it's your job."

"No, it's not!" Henley exclaimed.

"But… you're a girl," Jack stated, as if that justified everything.

"This is ridiculous! Just because I'm a girl, I have to do the laundry? Well guess what Jack! You all can do your own laundry because I refuse to do it!" And with that, Henley stormed off into her room, taking her half-eaten sandwich and juice with her.

"Now look what you did, Jack. Good luck doing your own laundry," Daniel muttered.

"Guys," Jack paused, "I… um… I don't know how to do the laundry."

"You've never done your own laundry?" Daniel asked skeptically.

Jack looked at him sheepishly and shook his head.

"Don't worry, dude," Merritt said reassuringly. "You can always hand wash everything." Merritt picked up the empty plates from his teammates and brought them over to the dishwasher.

Jack groaned, "Can't one of you do it? Please?"

"Sorry, but the people in this house don't trust me with anything," Daniel stated testily.

"It's easy, Jack. Just sort out the clothes, put some detergent, and turn on the washing machine. Then put them out to dry," Merritt added.

Jack sighed and walked over to the laundry room.

"Do you think we should help him?" Merritt asked Daniel.

"Nah… he'll figure it out. I think this is a valuable learning experience," Daniel answered. Daniel secretly basked in the fact that someone else was just as clueless as he usually was.

Meanwhile, Jack was inside the laundry room staring at the washing machine. He looked at the laundry basket on the ground and said to himself, "Okay Jack. You got this. Take things one-step at a time. What was first? Oh yeah! Sorting. But sort by what?"

Jack shifted through the laundry in the basket. Merritt hadn't specified what he was supposed to sort by. Jack tried to recall anything that would help. Everything is usually sorted by gender, Jack thought, like bathrooms and stores, so maybe laundry is the same.

So Jack pulled out another laundry basket and sorted the clothes into the men's clothing basket, or Henley's clothing basket. Jack figured that he should probably wash the men's clothing first. That way, if Jack messed up, at least he wouldn't suffer Henley's wrath.

Jack took all of his clothing, Merritt's clothing, and Daniel's clothing and dumped the clothes into the washing machine. As he poured the clothing into the washing machine, he found a pair of glittery briefs. Jack knew they weren't his, but he also could see both Merritt and Daniel being the owners of the briefs. Jack shuddered to himself.

Okay, Jack thought to himself, next is detergent. Jack tried to find the instructions on the detergent bottle, but the bottle's label was already very faded. He sighed and figured that with most things, the more the better. So, Jack poured the detergent straight on top of the clothing pile in the washing machine. After thoroughly drenching the clothing with detergent, he closed the lid.

Jack looked at the knobs on the washing machine and focused first on the timer. He debated between an hour or an hour and a half, but finally decided on an hour because he wanted to watch the game on TV later.

Next was the other knob, the temperature of the water. Jack wondered what the difference was between washing with cold water and washing with hot water. Jack liked his showers in warm water, and figured that the clothing would probably appreciate the same.

And with that, Jack started up the washing machine. He brushed his hands satisfactorily and left the laundry room. Jack closed the door of the laundry room and went to his bedroom to take a short, one-hour nap.

As Jack took his nap, Merritt happened to be going into the kitchen in search of beer. On his way, he passed the laundry room. Merritt paused when he smelled an overwhelming scent of fresh flowers. He also found that his slippers were stepping in a puddle.

Merritt's eyes followed the puddle and found water seeping through under the laundry room door. "Oh no…" Merritt mumbled. He opened the laundry room door and galloons of soapy water flooded into the house.

Merritt got back up and found the water at his waist. He wadded his way over to Jack's room and yelled, "Jack! I think you should come see this!"

"Already have!" Jack screamed. He stood on his bed and saw his room flooded with soapy water.

"JACK! WHAT DID YOU DO?" Daniel yelled from the hallway.

"The house is flooded!" Merritt shouted in shock. "Where's Henley? We need to make sure she's safe!" Merritt asked.

"She went out and took the car," Daniel replied. Right now, he was standing on a chair, the water level slowly rising every minute.

"I can't believe I'm going to die by a washing machine flood. How lame," Merritt wailed.

"We're not going to die!" Jack protested. "I've got it! Take your cell phone and call anyone you can!" Jack commanded.

"My cell phone is at the bottom of this soapy water sea," Merritt sighed.

"Got it," Daniel answered. He pulled his cell phone from his pocket and dialed for Henley. He groaned when he was sent to voicemail. "Henley's not answering! Where could she be?" Daniel said aloud.

"My cell phone fell into the water two seconds ago," Jack muttered sheepishly, "But Daniel – try to call Dylan!"

Dylan, who was at the Eye headquarters, was just about to head home after a long day at work. The Eye was conducting its usual business, but for some reason, things have not been going as smoothly as Dylan would have liked.

When Daniel called, Dylan hoped it was for fun. He wondered if they were inviting him for dinner or something. But when Daniel explained the situation of the Horsemen, Dylan wanted to bash his head in the wall. And at this point in the day, he probably already had.

He rubbed his temples and felt the stress caving in on him. At times like this, Dylan wondered why he couldn't have just stuck with taking over his parent's grocery store business.

Dylan was about to call some Eye agents to help him de-flood the house, when he realized that the other agents were still on their assignments. He decided to call for FBI backup, and figured he could just de-flood the house and make up some lie to cover for the Horsemen.

But when Dylan called for FBI backup, he was disconnected before the phone even rang. He screamed in frustration. The FBI never sent anyone to voicemail much less hung up on a head agent, and Dylan made a note to find out what had happened after he dealt with the Horsemen situation.

Dylan sighed and realized that he would have to go and de-flood the house somehow. He got into his car and sped quickly to the house.

Once he arrived, Dylan knew that opening the front door would most likely cause rushing soapy water to run him over. Dylan walked around the house, and noticed most of the house was flooded. The windows looked like aquarium windows. So, Dylan decided to enter the house through the chimney.

Dylan scrambled up the roof and jumped into the chimney. He got into the house underwater and quickly swam up to the surface. By now, the water was deep enough to swim in.

"Guys! It's Santa!" Merritt cheered.

Daniel swam over and smacked Merritt on the head.

"DYLAN! YOU'RE HERE! OH THANK GOODNESS!" Jack cheered.

"Really, I don't even want to know how this happened," Dylan answered. He quickly found himself a floating pillow to hang onto.

"So… how are you going to de-flood this place?" Merritt questioned.

Dylan smiled sheepishly. "Well…" he trailed.

"Wait," Daniel stated, "You don't know how to fix this mess? Then WHY DID YOU EVEN COME?"

"The Eye is busy, and the FBI headquarters wouldn't pick up. What else could I do? I had to at least come to see if you guys were alright." Dylan defended.

"So… we're still stuck?" Jack asked dejectedly.

"WE'RE GOING TO DIE!" Merritt wailed again.

The Horsemen, and Dylan, sighed and floated in the water in silence.

After a while, Jack said, "I'm sorry. This is all my fault. I should've apologized to Henley."

"WHAT'S THAT?" came a female voice on a megaphone. With the voice, came the sound of a flying helicopter.

"I said, I'm sorry Henley. You shouldn't have to do the laundry just because you're a girl and – WAIT HENLEY?!" Jack realized.

"That's definitely Henley's voice," Daniel affirmed.

"Henley! Where are you?" Merritt yelled.

"I'M OUTSIDE!" Henley yelled through the megaphone.

"Henley?" Dylan asked in disbelief.

"AND ALMA!" Alma yelled through the megaphone.

"Okay, what is going on?" Dylan demanded.

"WELL, HENLEY CALLED ME BECAUSE SHE WAS SICK OF DEALING WITH YOU STUPID PEOPLE. AND SHE TOLD ME WHAT HAPPENED. AND I THOUGHT IT WAS SUCH A COINCIDENCE BECAUSE DYLAN AND I ARGUED ABOUT LAUNDRY A FEW DAYS AGO…" Alma replied with a huge smile.

"AND SO, WE SET UP A LITTLE PUNISHMENT FOR YOU GUYS," Henley finished.

"I don't understand," Jack protested.

Henley laughed, "IT'S TRUE THAT YOU DIDN'T DO THE LAUNDRY CORRECTLY. I DIDN'T DO ANYTHING FOR THAT PART. BUT I SNUCK IN AND MADE IT OVERFLOW SO MUCH THAT IT WOULD FLOOD THE HOUSE."

"That's so mean!" Jack whined.

Merritt whistled, impressed. "Nice…" he said impressed.

"AND I MADE IT SO THAT THE FBI COULDN'T COME AND HELP YOU GUYS," Alma added proudly.

"Oh…" Dylan said. Now he understood why the FBI didn't pick up when he called.

"But why punish us all? I haven't done anything," Daniel muttered.

"I HEARD THAT AND TRUST ME, DANNY, YOU HAVE OTHER THINGS THAT YOU NEED TO BE PUNISHED FOR," Henley stated.

"So, are you going to de-flood the house or what?" Dylan questioned.

"HM… ALMA? WHAT DO YOU THINK?" Henley asked her partner in crime.

Alma pretended to think for a while and replied, "WELL, I THINK THEY COULD LAST A LITTLE LONGER. LET'S TAKE THIS HELICOPTER OUT SHOPPING. SHALL WE?"

"DEFINITELY," Henley agreed.

"OH AND DYLAN DEAR, I BORROWED YOUR WALLET," Alma yelled quickly.

And with that, the two girls took the FBI helicopter out for a shopping trip. The helicopter left and so did the vacuum attached to the helicopter that was supposed to de-flood the house.

"So… now what?" Jack sighed as he floated along next to the others.


	16. Hide and Seek

**Thanks for the benevolent reviews, favorites, and follows! This request was brought to you by Nicotomatohead and Emily, the Horsemen play hide and seek at Ikea. **

**Disclaimer: Don't own ****Now You See Me**

Hide and Seek

The Four Horsemen were currently at Ikea, a huge furniture store that sells everything from beds to desks. There were also appliances and home accessories for sale. There wasn't an Ikea nearby the town that the Horsemen lived in, so they all got up early and drove two hours to the nearest Ikea store.

The team needed some new furniture because their old furniture had been water-logged after the laundry washing machine disaster that Jack created.

They parked the car and split up to buy the new furniture. At around 2:00 pm, the group finished buying everything they needed.

"Well, I guess we're done?" Henley asked.

"Hm… yeah. It sucks that we had to drive two hours, buy things for only an hour, then drive for two hours back," Merritt commented.

"I guess we could stay here longer, but what would we do?" Daniel replied.

"I know!" Jack sat up "Let's play hide and seek!" Jack use to play hide and seek all the time as a kid, but never before in a furniture store as grand as Ikea.

"What?" Merritt asked, surprised.

"You know, like the kid's game? Where one person counts, and then everyone else hides?" Jack exclaimed.

Henley paused, "I don't know…"

"Please? It'll be fun!" Jack pouted.

"Fine," Henley agreed.

"Yes! If I win, I get to use the Jacuzzi privately, whenever I want, for a year!" Jack declared.

Merritt smiled and shook his head at how quickly Henley gave in. He added, "As long as it is inside the store, it is fair game. And you have to tag the person, not just find them. And… hm… oh! Let's say that all skills can be utilized."

"Okay," Jack said. "I'll be it!" He turned around and put his forehead on the wall. "One... Two… Three... Four... Five... Six... Seven... Eight... Nine... Ten!" Jack spun around. Henley and Merritt were gone, but Daniel was still standing next to Jack. "Daniel..." Jack whined, "You're supposed to hide..."

"I don't want to play," Daniel shrugged.

"But it's not fun if not everyone plays," Jack complained.

Daniel shrugged again, "Just go find Merritt and Henley."

Jack sighed and went to look for his teammates. He walked through the many different departments, not able to find any sign of either Henley or Merritt.

Jack figured that there weren't any rules against asking people, so he went up to an old woman. "Excuse me," Jack asked politely. "Have you seen a bald guy, this tall, with a hat on?"

The old woman thought and then nodded, "He went that way." She pointed her finger at the bedroom section.

"Thanks!" Jack cheered and ran towards the beds, closets, and drawers. He looked around and couldn't find a trace of Merritt. "Hi, have you seen a stupid, old guy whose bald and this tall?" Jack asked the saleswoman nearby.

"Yes," the saleswoman replied. "He went to the curtains section over there."

"Thank you," Jack said quickly and ran to the curtains area. But when he got to the curtain area, he couldn't find Merritt. He walked over to someone who was examining a selection of embroidered curtains and asked if the customer had seen Merritt.

The man smiled helpfully and responded that Merritt had gone to the sink department. Jack thanked the man and headed towards the sink department. Merritt has been running around everywhere in this store, Jack thought to himself. Jack looked around and found Merritt's black hat. Excitedly, he tackled the hat and the man wearing the hat.

But the man wasn't Merritt. In fact, the man wasn't even a man. It was the old woman that Jack had ran into and asked at the start.

"Excuse me young man! It is incredibly rude to tackle an old lady you've never met before!" the old woman huffed.

"Huh?" Jack wondered, confused. "I asked you for directions earlier."

The old woman hit him with her cane and stalked off.

Jack rubbed his arm and found a note written on the floor, in chalk, where the woman was standing. The note read:

**Ha. Nice try. Keep searching dear ;) –Merritt**

Jack shuddered at the winking smiley face Merritt had drawn. Merritt's winks, in person and in drawing, were never flattering. He realized that Merritt had used his mentalist tricks and created a false trail for Jack to follow. Jack had been running around the store for an hour all for nothing.

Jack ran a hand through his hair and began walking randomly. He hoped that a stroke of luck would hit him and he would find either Henley or Merritt.

And right as Jack thought that, he spotted a flash of red hair on his left. It was so quick that Jack nearly missed it. And Jack began to chase the red-haired figure.

As he got closer, he affirmed that it was Henley. He smiled and yelled, "I'm going to catch you Henley!" Jack reached out to tag Henley, but she quickly shifted to the left and away from his grasp.

Henley turned around, winked. "I'm an escape artist. It's what I do." Henley threw some chairs in his path.

"Really Henley? Ugh…" Jack muttered as he dodged the chairs. He noticed he was starting to attract attention from other shoppers, but continued running. He was now in arm's reach of Henley, and only had to tag her.

She, still running, screamed in frustration, but then found some pillows. As she ran, she pelted Jack with pillows, right in the face.

"Ow!" Jack exclaimed as his face met with the pillow at full force. "Henley... Ow! Quit… Ow! Throwing… Ow!" Jack yelled as he ran.

"They're pillows, Jack!" Henley laughed as she ran. "They don't hurt!"

Jack continued to run through the pillow attack. By now, he was sure he had everyone's attention. Suddenly, he noticed that there were salespeople chasing after him as well, demanding that he stop running right away.

Great, Jack thought, now I have to chase Henley while being chased by Ikea people.

Henley noticed that she was coming at a dead end of the store. She looked around for options and only spotted the girl's bathroom. She went into the girl's bathroom and figured she was safe.

Jack chased her to the dead end, but couldn't find Henley anywhere. He only spotted the girl's bathroom. He ran to the bathroom, and stopped at the door.

Jack wondered if he had any pride left. He had been unsuccessful at finding his friends. He had been lead on by strangers only to reach Merritt's winky face. He had been running around like a maniac through a furniture store. He had been pelted with bejeweled pillows. He had been chased by a herd of employees.

He decided that his pride was already low, and went into the girl's bathroom.

Meanwhile, the employees ran to the dead end. They found the only possible place that the boy could've ran would be the girl's bathroom, but figured the boy wouldn't dare go in. So, they gave up and went back into their positions.

In the bathroom, the girls screamed. Some attacked Jack with purses, but most ran out the door.

Jack watched the girls through their attacks and spotted a red head trying to sneak out with the crowd. He quickly grabbed the red-haired girl's arm and said, "Ha! Got you!"

The girl turned around and to Jack's horror, wasn't Henley.

"Molester!" the girl screamed and kicked him where it hurt. Jack let go of her arm and fell to his knees in pain. Now, the bathroom was empty, and Jack slowly hobbled out the door. He was about to head somewhere else to look for Merritt, just about given up on Henley.

But then, he stopped and went hobbled back into the bathroom. He checked each stall and then looked up and smiled, "HA! Found you, Henley!" He quickly jumped up, ignoring the pain, and tagged her.

Henley sighed and got off the ceiling. "I have to hand it to you, Jack," she commended, "I didn't think you'd actually come into the girl's bathroom. Twice, too."

"Yeah… let's not mention this to anyone?" Jack muttered.

"Hm… too late! Already got everything on footage," Henley winked.

Jack groaned, "Let's just find Merritt now."

The two searched each floor of Ikea, but weren't able to find Merritt anywhere. After hours and hours of searching, Jack was about ready to give up. The two sat down on one of the patio displays to rest.

"This is hopeless," Jack complained.

"Well, you can admit defeat?" Henley suggested.

"Tee hee hee," came a voice from the bush that was a part of the outdoor furniture display.

Jack paused. "Henley? Did you hear that?" Jack asked her.

Henley shrugged, "I didn't hear anything."

"Hee hee hee," came the voice again.

"You know, Merritt, finding you is a lot harder when you're not laughing," Jack said to the bush. He and Henley approached the talking bush.

"Um… I'm not this fabulous, cool, sexy, talented, and gorgeous sounding Merritt you speak of," replied the bush.

Jack rolled his eyes. "Merritt, just get out the bush!"

"I'm not Merritt! I'm a magical bush! I'll grant you three wishes!" the bush argued back.

"Merritt! Give it up already! I found you, let's go back to Daniel," Jack demanded.

"I'm a bush!" the bush yelled again.

"You're as bad at lying as you are hiding. Let's go already!" Jack insisted.

The bush ignored Jack and asked, "What would your first wish be...?"

"Merritt!" Jack shouted angrily.

"You wish for Merritt? Okay!" exclaimed the bush.

Jack glared at the bush, expecting Merritt to jump out and say "Tricked you!" or something stupid like that.

Suddenly, someone tapped Jack on the shoulder.

"Go away Daniel, I'm trying to get Merritt out this bush..." Jack muttered.

"Um... Jack... I AM Merritt," Merritt stated.

Jack turned around and saw Merritt. "But... There's still someone in there..." Jack mumbled.

Merritt, Jack, and Henley walked up to the bush.

"Step away from the magic bush!" yelled the bush.

"Oh! A magic bush!" gasped Merritt.

Jack sighed and stuck his hand in the bush. "There's someone in here! Geez, he or she is very heavy!" Jack said.

Merritt, Henley, and Jack worked together to pull the lump out of the bush.

"Heeeaavee!" Jack cried.

"Hoooooo!" chanted Henley.

"Come on!" Merritt grunted.

Suddenly a person came out, someone they recognized.

"DANIEL!?" Jack, Henley, and Merritt gasped at the same time.


	17. Crash

**Thanks for the magnificent reviews, favorites, and follows! This chapter is a request from Sajna18, a hurt/comfort chapter surrounding Jack. This is the first time I write anything serious, so I'm very nervous. Just as WARNING, this isn't a very humorous chapter.**

**Disclaimer: Don't own Jack or ****Now You See Me**

Crash

Daniel watched as a blur of noise and people came in and out. It had been an hour, yet Daniel hadn't moved from the spot he was standing. He kept wishing it was a dream, and that any moment he would wake up and everything would still be okay.

But no matter how many times Daniel pinched himself, he still found himself staring at the truck. Even when he touched his forehead and found blood, he couldn't focus on anything else except the crash, and the crash remains.

The truck was suddenly hit in the side by another car. The car slammed against the truck, Jack shoved Daniel to the side away from the impact, and Daniel watched in horror as Jack was slammed against the seat like a doll. The car, having only a scratch, sped on without a care in the world. A bystander called the police and paramedics as soon as the crash occurred. Glass was shattered everywhere, the car destroyed on one side, and Jack was a bloody mess.

Daniel escaped with scratches. Because Jack had pushed Daniel out of the way.

The paramedics pulled Jack into their truck, and helped bandage Daniel up. Daniel didn't have to go the emergency room, but he insisted on staying with Jack. Daniel watched silently as Jack lied in the truck, unconscious and bleeding. The paramedics ran tests while the driver sped to the hospital, with Daniel watching helplessly and holding Jack's hand tightly.

The paramedics took Jack, and Daniel, to the hospital. Once they arrived, the brought Jack immediately into the emergency room.

Daniel was brought to the waiting area of the hospital. Still in shock, Daniel sat at a bench and stayed silent. He stared at the doors where Jack had been brought into.

"Daniel!" Merritt called.

Daniel looked up and found Merritt and Henley running towards him. Merritt and Henley were both in bathrooms and pajamas, and since the truck was gone, they ran all the way from the house to the hospital.

"Where's Jack?" Henley demanded, slightly out of breath.

"They brought him in," Daniel said softly.

Henley pulled Daniel off the bench, "Let's go!"

But Daniel just sat back down. He put his head in his hands.

"Come on, Danny! Let's go find Jack to see if he's okay!" Henley exclaimed.

"It… I… it should've been me," Daniel muttered.

"What?" Merritt asked.

Daniel looked up and glared angrily. "It should've been me alright! The crash impact was on my side, but Jack shielded me and took the blow."

"Dude, it's okay, it was an accident and Jack was –" Merritt tried to comfort.

"IT'S NOT OKAY. Because of me, Jack was a pool of blood when they pulled him out of the car crash! Because of me, Jack is in the emergency room! Because of me, the kid is never going to live his life!" Daniel yelled angrily.

Henley slapped Daniel. "JACK IS NOT DEAD!" she said angrily. She sat next to Daniel on the bench. "I'm sorry Danny, I overreacted a bit... But don't you ever say that again," she muttered.

"It's not your fault, Daniel. Jack needs us more than ever right now, so you have to pull yourself together," Merritt said.

Daniel thought for a moment and agreed, "You're right Merritt. Jack needs me. Jack needs us."

"Let's go." Merritt brought his friends up off the bench.

The three ran to the hospital front desk. They couldn't find anyone at the desk, so Merritt began to ring the little bell repeatedly. Finally a nurse came over, very annoyed. She took the bell always from Merritt

"We need to see our friend," Henley stated.

"Are you family?" the nurse questioned.

"Not technically, but we might as well be," Henley replied.

The nurse yawned, "I'm sorry. Only family is allowed to visit the patients at this time." She idly shuffled papers back and forth on the desk.

"No, see you don't understand. We have to see him," Henley begged.

"I'm sorry, this is hospital rules. I wish I could help you, but I can't," the nurse said. Her tone was insincere and bored.

Daniel's eye twitched. He brought his face really close to the nurse and slammed his fist on the table. "Listen here," Daniel said calmly, "Jack Wilder is a name known everywhere. He has connections to the FBI. If you want, we will bring the FBI here and I'm pretty sure the easiest solution they provide will be to fire you. Or maybe just to kill you. So, I suggest that you let us see Jack the easy way."

The nurse nodded in fear and quickly led them to the room that Jack had been placed in. Jack was hooked up to many wires and tubes. His eyes were closed as he rested on the bed. Jack also had bandages over parts of his body.

Henley brought her hand to her mouth, "Oh…Jack…" She shuddered at all the hospital junk connected to her friend.

"Is he okay?" Merritt wondered aloud. He came over to Jack's side and touched Jack's cold hand.

"He was just in surgery," the surgeon informed as he walked into the room. "Although we managed to save his life, he lost a lot of blood. His immunity levels weren't very high, so he may not be able to last for more than a few hours. Please inform his friends and family to see him. It may be their last chance," With that, the surgeon left the room.

"May… not… last?" Merritt repeated in shock.

"He's… so pale," Daniel whispered."It's like… looking at a corpse…"

"No!" Henley shouted. "Don't say that!" She covered her ears with her hands.

"He isn't conscious and he hasn't passed the critical stage yet. Henley, it doesn't seem optimistic," Merritt said gently.

"Shut up!" Henley exclaimed, tears beginning to spill. "Jack is not going to die!" She ran up to the unconscious Jack and held him by the shoulders. "Hear me Jack? YOU AREN'T GOING TO DIE! You're going to appear, like you did when we were on the run from the FBI! I know you aren't! Just give me a sign, anything, to reassure me! After all, you learned all the escape artist tricks! So prove it to me! Escape death! Please, Jack! Please!" Henley dropped to her knees and began to sob.

Daniel went over and rubbed Henley's back gently. He looked at Merritt and whispered, "I'm going to help Henley calm down outside alright?"

Merritt nodded and watched Henley and Daniel leave the room. After they left, Merritt brought a chair over to Jack's side and ruffled his hair.

All of a sudden, the door opened.

Merritt looked up, expecting Daniel and Henley, but found himself face to face with two strangers. Merritt guessed they were husband and wife. They were both on their cell phones and held indifferent looks.

"Can I help you?" Merritt asked in confusion.

"We're Jack's parents," the man replied, not bothering to look away from his phone.

Merritt didn't even know Jack had parents. Nevertheless he asked, "Well hi. I'm Merritt and I'd be curious to know where you two have been. You chose to just show up now? When Jack is on his death bed?"

The wife glared at Merritt and said haughtily, "Listen, I don't know who you are, but this is my son. We are just very busy and haven't had a chance to see him."

Now, Merritt was upset. "Really? Because I have never heard Jack mention either of you, and I've been more family to him that you two have been combined!" Merritt fumed.

"Watch your tone! I can have you thrown out of this room this instant!" snapped the husband.

Just then the doctor came in.

The wife quickly threw her phone in her purse. "Oh doctor! How is our son?" the wife replied, beginning to cry. She clinged onto the doctor's arm.

"You both are Jack's parents?" the doctor questioned.

"Yes sir," the husband replied. He also had put away his phone in his pocket. He held his wife's hands.

Merritt had never seen two people more phony and disgusting as Jack's parents. If Jack wasn't dying, Merritt could've laughed at the situation.

The doctor began, "Well, your son, I'm sorry to say, isn't doing well. He went through surgery and it seems he is unconscious. We don't know if he will wake up –"

The wife sobbed dramatically and cried, "Oh, my poor baby!"

The husband held his wife close and said, "Doctor, you're saying my son won't wake up? The horror!" He led his wife to the bed and held Jack's hand.

Merritt rolled his eyes and almost gagged at the fakeness of it all. He wanted to strangle these people, but held in his temper for Jack.

"I'm very sorry for your loss Mr. and Mrs. Wilder," the doctor comforted. "I'll give you both some time alone with your son."

"Wait!" the husband yelled, dropping Jack's hand. He pulled out hand sanitizer from his pocket and used some on the hand that held Jack's hand.

"Yes?" the doctor stopped.

"So, if my son doesn't make it… and he didn't write a will or anything… See, his grandpa left Jack some money that Jack doesn't know about. His grandpa was going to allow Jack to claim it when he became 25 years old, and if Jack died before 25 years… the parents would be able to claim the money right?" the dad asked, completely dropping his fake sadness.

The doctor made a face of disgust, "Excuse me?"

Merritt's face matched the doctor's. "What?" Merritt exclaimed in disbelief.

The wife also had stopped sobbing and was reapplying her make-up. "You heard my husband. Do we get Jack's money?"

"I don't know. I'm guessing you should talk to a lawyer," the doctor said curtly and left the room.

"Well, dear. Let's go find the lawyer," the wife said and began to lead her husband out.

"STOP RIGHT THERE," Merritt demanded. He was steaming from his ears in anger.

The husband groaned, "What do you want now boy?"

"I just wanted to say that you will NEVER. GET. ANYTHING. FROM. JACK. EVER. I only met you two for, what, five minutes and I am so horrified. NO WONDER Jack never brought you two up because frankly, you two are probably the most selfish, rude, loathsome people on the planet. That's right I said LOATHSOME. How can two people who only visit their son for money EVER dare face their son? Well, guess what? I KNOW THE FBI. And the FBI will BEAT you and your lawyers with your stupid phones and briefcases TEN TIMES OVER," Merritt roared.

Daniel and Henley had just come back in and were confused with the situation.

"Hey Merritt. What's happening?" Henley asked through sniffs. Her eyes were bloodshot, but she had stopped crying.

"Your friend here," the husband pointed at Merritt angrily. "just insulted us. We are Jack's parents and your insolent friend insulted us in front of Jack himself."

"I thought we raised Jack to have better friends than this," the wife muttered.

"Whoa there," Henley stated in disbelief. "I don't know where you two have been for the past FOUR HOURS since the car crash, but we have been here. Right besides Jack. I HAVE BEEN SOBBING MY EYES OUT FOR ABOUT THREE HOURS IN A ROW. So don't give me any crap about being Jack's parents."

"Calm down Henley. It's a hospital –" Daniel tried, but was interrupted by Henley pressing her hand to his mouth.

"Your sperm and egg might have made Jack in a love hotel or whatever, BUT DON'T YOU DARE CALL YOURSELVES PARENTS. I don't know why you two are here, but you certainly don't deserve to be," Henley shouted furiously.

The husband and wife backed away slowly from the fuming girl.

The husband looked at Daniel, assuming that Daniel was the most reasonable of these people. "Look, we just came here to see our son and if you would tell your friends to –" the husband was interrupted.

"Don't try to negotiate with me. It would be best of you left. I agree with them one hundred percent, but I'm the more rational of us all. Still, I can't say how long I can hold these two down from attacking you," Daniel shrugged.

The husband and wife looked at each other, and then ran out the door.

Merritt poked his head out from the room and yelled, "THAT'S RIGHT. RUN. AND DON'T FORGET, WE HAVE FBI CONNECTIONS. WE CAN HUNT YOU BOTH DOWN."

The three sat around Jack again, who was still unconscious even after all the yelling.

"Hey Jack," Henley smiled weakly. "I think we're scaring everyone today."

"We met your parents… that's all I'm going to say about that," Daniel added.

"And we really just want you wake up," Merritt concluded.

Jack didn't move.

"Jack, you idiot. Why did you have to be a knight and shining armor for me?" Daniel joked, tears threatening to form. "Save that for your girlfriend. I should've been the one shielding you. Who else is going to be the next J. Daniel Atlas?" Daniel began to feel extremely guilty again.

Henley held Daniel's hand when she noticed his guilty look. "It's okay," she said to Daniel. "I would've done the same thing as Jack."

"Me too," Merritt added.

The three didn't say anything, but all began to cry silently. Each of them put a hand over Jack's hands.

"Jack, you're not going to die," Daniel stated abruptly. By now, Daniel didn't even bother to hold his tears in.

Henley agreed, "Jack, you're not going to die." She began to sob again.

Merritt whispered, more to himself, "Jack, you're not going to die." His tears soaked the bed that Jack was laying on.

And suddenly, Jack's hand twitched.


	18. Quiz

**Thanks for the delightful reviews, favorites, and follows! I'm so relieved that you all enjoyed the serious chapter with Jack. I was actually tempted to continue, but then I would break my rule of one chapter one story. However, it was actually a nice change from writing humor or weird adventures. Perhaps I may write some more serious chapters in the future. **

**Anyways, this chapter the request of heart dreamsareinfinity, Merritt hitting on Henley. It seems that many of you like seeing a jealous Daniel?**

**Disclaimer: Don't own ****Now You See Me**

Quiz

It was just another typical afternoon. Jack was on the couch watching a sports game. Henley was in the kitchen having a snack. Daniel had his blueprints sprawled all over the floor. And Merritt sat in the leather chair, flipping through a magazine.

All of a sudden, Merritt jumped out of his chair and shouted, "Guys! Let's take this compatibility quiz!" He pointed at the page in his magazine.

"No," Daniel replied immediately and turned back to his blueprints.

"What magazine are you reading that has a compatibility quiz?" Jack questioned. He wondered if Merritt was reading some sort of fashion magazine, because sports magazines sure didn't have compatibility quizes.

Merritt ignored Jack's question and turned to Henley, "Please. It'll be fun!"

He tried to pout like Jack always did.

Jack stared at Merritt, "Ha. No." And he went back to his sports game.

Henley sighed, "Fine. But for the record, your pout fails. You look like a dead fish." She walked over to the leather chair where Merritt was seated and sat on the armrest of the chair.

"Okay!" Merritt said excitedly, "So just fill out the quiz and then I'll fill out mine. At the end, it will give you a number and the closer our numbers are the better." He handed her the questions and a pen.

Henley laughed but worked on her answers.

The questions were mostly personality questions about favorites and preferences. And there weren't very many questions, just ten.

Merritt waited until Henley finished and then took the quiz answers to compare it to the results in the magazine. He matched them up and exclaimed, "Henley, we're 100% compatible!"

"Really?" Henley asked skeptically.

"Really!" Merritt affirmed. "Look, see for favorite color – we both put red. For favorite thing to do - sleep. For favorite vehicle – we put motorcycle. And more!"

Henley looked at the two answer sheets. "Wow," she said amazed, "I can't believe we both had the same answers. What are the odds?"

"Clearly," Merritt drawled, "We're destined to be together."

"That's great," Jack joked. "You two can get married tonight. We'll hit Vegas and you two can have a shotgun wedding. I'll get my suit and tie ready."

"That's ridiculous. There's no way of telling how well two people would be together based on some random questions," Daniel snapped. Daniel didn't stop working on his blueprints, but was no longer paying any attention to them.

Merritt rolled his eyes, "Um… hello Daniel? It's not every day that two people get 100% compatibility."

"It's destiny…" Jack whispered dramatically, having fun with the situation.

"Please," Daniel stated indignantly. By now, he completely disregarded his blueprints and went over to where his teammates were. "Anyone can guess the same answers. Watch. Henley, your favorite food is, uh, cake," Daniel said.

"Um… no," Henley answered flatly.

Daniel began to panic. "Okay, your favorite drink is orange juice?" Daniel guessed.

"Nope," Henley replied. She yawned.

Merritt groaned, "Give it up, Daniel. Some people were just not meant to be together."

"You can still be the best man at their wedding. I don't mind," Jack added.

Daniel's eye twitched and he began to shout, "APPLE JUICE? SMOOTHIE? PINA COLATA? CHOCOLATE MILK? RED WINE?"

Henley sighed, "None of the above. Listen Danny, I have to pee so –"

Daniel wouldn't let her leave. "TEA? COKE? PEPSI? SPRITE? MILK?" Daniel pressed on.

"Danny, come on, move!" Henley shoved him.

This time, Daniel let her pass to go to the bathroom but shouted after her, "DON'T TELL ME. IT'S WATER?"

After she left, Jack turned to Daniel pointedly, "It's chocolate latte. Has been always will be."

"I was going to say that next," Daniel muttered defensively. "I don't understand how Merritt know more than I know about her, even though I've met her way before you have."

"Dude, I'm just smooth like that," Merritt winked.

"Maybe you're just not that observant?" Jack suggested.

Daniel was now more depressed than upset. He got up and went over to pick up his blueprints. Then he left the living room and headed to his room.

"So," Jack said after a while, "How did you do it?"

"Do what?" Merritt asked innocently.

"Come on, there's no way you and Henley have the exact same preferences and favorites," Jack stated bluntly.

"Jack, I'm hurt by your lack of faith in me. You are definitely not going to be our best man," Merritt replied in mock hurt.

Jack stared at Merritt pointedly.

"Fine," Merritt gave in. "I'm a mentalist. I just know people's answers. It's what I do. Daniel was just too jealous to remember that."

Jack thought about this, "That means that you and I could also have 100% compatibility?"

"Sure, want to try?" Merritt grinned as he held up the magazine.

"Bring it," Jack replied.

And it turns out, Daniel was really bummed out by the compatibility quiz. During dinner, he pushed his food back and forth on the plate. He didn't even want dessert.

Henley would've comforted him, but she was still slightly upset that even after all their years together, he couldn't figure out that her favorite drink was chocolate latte even though she had one at least once a week. Merritt had explained how he got the same answers that she did, but Henley didn't want to tell Daniel yet. It was sort of a punishment from her to him.

Jack also wanted to cheer Daniel up, so after dinner he said, "Come on, Daniel. It's just some dumb quiz from a magazine."

"Dumb magazines don't produce 100% compatibility," Daniel grumbled.

Merritt began to feel guilty when he saw the depressed Daniel. "Look, Daniel, I have something to confess," Merritt began.

"Leave me alone. And for the record, I wasn't going to your wedding anyways," Daniel muttered bitterly.

"Well, you see. I only got 100% compatibility because I'm a mentalist. I'm a brilliant guesser and so I was able to guess Henley's answers," Merritt confessed.

"Not even your guessing is that good…" Daniel replied, unconvinced.

"He's telling the truth," Jack confirmed. "Merritt and I took the compatibility quiz together and we are also 100% compatible."

Daniel still didn't believe Merritt. "Prove it," Daniel demanded.

"Okay, then let's take the compatibility test together," Merritt demanded and he pulled out the magazine again.

And Merritt was correct. When they compared answers, Merritt was 100% compatible with Daniel.

Daniel couldn't believe it. "I'm tempted to murder you for all the unnecessary stress you caused me," Daniel confessed.

Merritt ducked behind Jack.

"I still can't believe that Merritt is compatible with everyone in the entire world," Jack said.

"You're every girl's dream guy," Daniel stated dryly.

"And every guy's dream guy," Jack laughed.


	19. Movies

**Thanks for the great reviews, favorites, and follows! This request is from Emily, in which the Horsemen watch movies featuring either Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Isla Fisher, or Dave Franco. I was only able to write about movies that I have seen before. **

**WARNING that there might be spoilers if you haven't seen these movies (listed in disclaimer). Also, if you have yet to see these movies, you may not understand what the Horsemen talk about in this chapter.**

**One last thing. The movie doesn't give very much information about the Horsemen, so I was thinking about adding my own details about each Horsemen in future chapters. But obviously, you guys are very important, so I wanted to see if there were any opinions on this topic. Don't feel pressured to say something, but if you have something to say or are totally against it, please feel free to let me know!**

**Disclaimer: As usual, I don't own Now You See Me. But, I also don't own Warm Bodies, Great Gatsby, To Rome With Love, Social Network, Hunger Games, Confessions of a Shopaholic, or Seven Psychopaths.**

Movies

Today was Saturday and the Horsemen were gathered in the living room. For this movie marathon, the group decided that each person would choose one or two movies. The group got settled into the living room early morning, because a marathon of seven or eight movies would last for quite some time.

Merritt popped lots of popcorn for everyone and Daniel got the sodas passed out. This time, they pulled the couch out to resemble a sofa bed, and everyone sat on it. From left to right sat Henley, Daniel, Merritt, and Jack.

"Alright guys, whose movies shall we see first?" Henley asked, looking at her teammates. She was over by the DVD player to put in a movie.

"Let's watch mine first!" Jack cried. He waved the movie disk in his hand.

"No, mine!" Merritt argued. He shoved Jack's hand away and held out his movie disk.

"Really? Obviously the most mature, sophisticated, and refined person should go first because his taste in movies is so great that it will make the other movies look silly," Daniel stated proudly.

"Yeah, anyone but Daniel," Jack muttered.

"Flip a coin?" Henley suggested.

"Actually, a coin toss is slightly biased. It's been scientifically researched that heads is just slightly more likely than tails," Daniel commented.

"Right," Henley said sarcastically, "Thanks for sharing, Danny."

"Rock, paper, scissors?" Merritt suggested.

The other Horsemen agreed. Merritt and Daniel played against each other. Jack and Henley played against each other. Merritt won and Henley won.

"Okay, bring it Merritt!" Henley smiled and held her hands out.

Merritt shook his head, "I always yield to a pretty lady."

Daniel and Jack rolled their eyes.

"Why thank you, kind sir," Henley laughed with a small curtsy. She pulled out her movie choices and popped on into the DVD player. She pressed play and walked back over.

**Warm Bodies…**

"It's really sweet how R cares for Julie," Henley smiled. Unconsciously, leaned her head against Daniel's shoulder.

"I don't understand what's so great about R. I bet he smells like a rotting corpse," Daniel remarked.

"Because he is a rotting corpse," Merritt pointed out.

"It's sort of similar to Romeo and Juliet. Star-crossed lovers," Henley tried.

"Romeo and Juliet both committed suicide. Over false communication," Daniel replied.

"Their love was able to change the world. Just by holding hands, R and Julie bring the dead back to life," Henley countered.

"That's utterly ridiculous. I don't understand how the dead, whom clearly died, can come back to life when their hearts and other organs were eaten out by other zombies," Daniel asserted again.

Henley did a face palm and refused to argue any longer with Daniel.

"Why oh why did they have to kill the best character in the whole movie?" Jack whined. He was sitting cross legged, hugging one of the pillow cushions.

"They didn't kill R," Henley stated, confused.

"Not R. No one cares about R. I'm talking about Perry," Jack declared dramatically.

"He's an insignificant, minor character," Merritt said.

"No, he's not. He's gorgeous, loyal, confused, sexy, and is the only thing keeping this movie together," Jack explained.

"He died within the first 10 minutes," Daniel said bluntly.

"You're just saying that because you have a scary resemblance to Perry," Henley laughed.

** Great Gatsby… **

"Everything is just so glamorous in this movie. I thought Daniel's performances were flashy, but Gatsby's parties top it all," Jack teased.

Daniel glared at Jack."My performances are just the right amount of flash and glamour. Gatsby's mansion, and fashion choice, is simply gaudy," Daniel replied hotly.

Merritt smiled, "I love the jazz. It's a great touch to the movie. And the camera angles are amazing." To emphasize, he snapped his fingers to the jazzy beat.

"You know, I feel bad for Myrtle," Henley said.

"How so? She's part of Tom's affair," Merritt asked, curious.

"In general, all the characters are despicable. But I pity Myrtle the most because she was stuck where she was. She tried so desperately and even died to change her social status and change her life," Henley tried to articulate.

"Yeah, that makes sense. You know, people like Tom and Daisy sort of remind me of Tressler. He was filthy rich, and only cared about staying filthy rich," Merritt replied after thinking a bit.

Jack didn't say anything for a while. The shallow and selfish people in the movie reminded him of his parents.

"What do you think, Danny?" Henley asked.

"I like Gatsby's facial hair," Daniel complimented, "I must have inspired him."

** To Rome with Love…**

"Man, this guy is awful. I'm a bit ashamed to be named Jack," Jack stated after a while.

"That Monica is equally as horrible," Henley pointed out.

"You have to admit though," Merritt added. "She's really good. I probably would cave into her in about 10 minutes. So props to Jack for even lasting that long. She's a seductress alright."

"I think Jack's a pretty cool guy," Daniel defended. For some reason, Daniel noticed he looked very similar to the Jack in the movie, and felt a little sympathy towards a guy who looked like him.

"Really? He cheated!" Henley stated flatly.

"But I mean, he couldn't help it! And he tried so hard to stay away. She was so amazing, or at least amazing at faking to be amazing!" Daniel held his hands up in surrender.

Jack knew he would have to forcefully change the subject so he said aloud, "Well, I thought the singing in the shower opera bit was funny."

"I pity the guy. I mean, I have a godly voice, but I can cultivate it anywhere, anytime. He can only sing brilliantly in the shower," Merritt added. "After all, my singing voice is the one that the guy should be scouting for. In fact, maybe I should call and get myself an agent tomorrow!"

"Yeah…" the three other Horsemen replied weakly.

** Social Network…**

"This is basically an autobiography. They might as well have had Mark Zuckerberg himself star in it," Merritt said.

"Mark kind of reminds me of Danny," Henley remarked.

Merritt rubbed his chin and agreed, "Yeah, I see some resemblance. They're both calculating, determined, arrogant, and won't stop at anything."

"Hey! You make me sound like a heartless jerk," Daniel shouted defensively.

"Sometimes, you kind of are," Henley muttered under her breath.

"You don't become a billionaire by being a nice guy," Merritt shrugged.

"But man, how he cheated his friend…" Jack added.

"Well, I think that Mark was still young and naïve," Daniel suggested. At some angles, Daniel could see where the character was coming from and why he acted the way he did.

"Yeah, I see where you're coming from," Merritt agreed, "When you put it that way, it sort of reminds me of us. After all, we did technically rob a bank and we did technically steal from a super rich dude."

Henley didn't say anything, but turned her head back to the movie.

"Now that I think about it," Jack stated, staring at Daniel, "Mark even resembles Daniel."

"Except without the bush of hair. Daniel's is more messy, bed head. Mark's is more puffy, almost afro," Henley described.

"It's great that you all care so much about Mark's hair," Daniel said bluntly.

**Hunger Games…**

"You know, Peeta is a bit of a stalker," Henley noted.

"Well, Gale isn't so innocent either. He's practically a criminal," Merritt replied. Merritt just so happen to be a die-hard Peeta fan. In fact, he secretly had a Peeta cardboard cut out in the back of his closet.

"Calm down, Merritt. Peeta is alright. But in the end, how can he compete with Gale's beauty?" Henley asked bluntly. Henley really just didn't like Peeta for some odd reason.

Merritt was about to respond and defend Peeta's honor, but Daniel interrupted.

"Now that I think about it, the Hunger Games is a good way to stop overpopulation" Daniel observed.

The three horsemen stared at him.

"What? It's not like that will really happen," Daniel replied to their blank stares.

"Well, they have things called condoms," Merritt began.

"Okay, let's end the sex talk," Jack said quickly. "Hm…you know, it's interesting that Katniss doesn't swear at all. She's killing everything, being attacked by everything, and thrown in such a difficult situation, yet she doesn't swear. Whereas for me, I swear when I get a paper cut," Jack pointed out.

"You know, I wonder if people had a fight to the death to get tickets to the midnight showing of this. Wouldn't that have been ironic?" Henley wondered aloud.

"I wonder how Seneca Crane got his beard to look like that…" Daniel muttered, unconsciously feeling his own facial hair.

"Forget that hair, what is up with Haymitch's weird mop of hair?" Merritt gasped.

** Confessions of a Shopaholic… **

"This is ridiculous! How can someone buy that much and not accidentally purchase the same thing again?" Daniel wondered.

"It's a girl thing?" Jack suggested.

"Oh like you are one to talk, Jack," Henley snapped. "I've seen your shopping bills and they aren't exactly modest either."

"Well, as Rebecca put it, I'm helping the economy so that depressions won't exist anymore," Jack defended.

"But she's piled in massive debt. I don't think she's such a good role model," Daniel pointed out.

"No, she is. She's got great advice. What Rebecca said about a store treating a girl better than a man ever can - that's absolutely true. Plus, she's so pretty, " Henley pointed out.

"I agree with Henley. She's great whether it be her mindset or her looks," Jack stated firmly.

"Clearly, this is a domain I can't make any jurisdictions in," Merritt stated. Growing up, Merritt's mom bought his clothes. As an adult, Merritt received clothing as gifts or shopped at Target. He had no idea that clothing could cost more than a good pizza.

** Seven Psychopaths…**

"Wow... this movie is…" Merritt tried to articulate.

"Violent?" Henley suggested, wincing, as another person was shot and blood splattered all over the place.

"It's interesting. I mean, not the killing and the murders, but the way the movie tries to get into the mindset of psychopaths," Daniel commented.

"There are just so many twists!" Jack exclaimed.

"With Billy? I know, I didn't see it coming either. I think that shows how just about anyone could be a psychopath," Daniel replied.

"I sort of liked Billy. And not just because he used the Jack of Diamonds card out of the other cards in the deck," Jack stated.

"And how Hans had the slit throat?" Merritt added.

"Well, I liked how they changed the Vietnamese psychopath's story," Henley added, "I mean, it wasn't that peaceful talk in the dessert that Marty wanted, but it was getting there."

"Man, I just can't believe that Charlie would go on a rampage of murders just to save his shih tzu," Jack said.

"Well, he loved the dog more than anything," Daniel reasoned, "As ridiculous and absurd it is, some people will do anything for love."

"I guess the moral of the story is that everyone is a little psycho?" Jack laughed.

"You know, as I'm watching this, these guys truly are psychos. But, I sort of wonder how we appear to other people," Merritt said thoughtfully.


	20. Surprise

**Thanks for the nice reviews, follows, and favorites! This chapter combines a request from Who, Jack's birthday celebration, and Artful Chicken, where Jack feels left out when the other Horsemen have a secret.**

**Also, since no one was against it, I plan to incorporate some of my own details about the Horsemen and their lives in future chapters. **

**Disclaimer: Don't own ****Now You See Me**** or Taylor Swift's song, 22**

Surprise

Today was Jack's birthday.

But Jack for some odd reason hadn't really mentioned anything.

When Daniel collected the mail from the mailbox, he organized it based on the person the mail was intended for. That was when he noticed a Happy Birthday postcard addressed to Jack.

Daniel ran back inside. He searched the house until he found Henley and Merritt, whom were in the living room watching TV. "Guys," Daniel whispered. "It's Jack's birthday today," He held out the postcard as evidence.

Henley gasped, "Why didn't he say anything?"

"How old is my beautiful boy turning?" Merritt asked, imitating an old man.

"I think he's turning 22?" Daniel stopped talking because he saw Jack come into the living room.

"I don't know about you, but I'm feeling twenty-twooooooo, everything's going to be alright if you keep me next to youuuuuuuuuu..." Merritt began singing in a girly voice.

All of a sudden, Jack walked into the living room. Jack stared at the huddle his teammates formed. "I didn't know we were having a team meeting. It's even featuring Taylor Swift," Jack joked. "Why didn't someone let me know?" Jack questioned.

"Oh, it's not a meeting…" Henley assured. She looked at Daniel and Merritt pointedly, trying to let them know that they couldn't tell Jack just yet.

"We were just talking about unimportant stuff," Merritt said, catching on.

"Cool," Jack stated as he came over to the huddle. "I love hearing random, useless stories or facts."

"I was just telling Henley and Jack about recent happenings in the world," Daniel lied.

"Like what?" Jack asked.

"Erm… chocolate… was banned from Antarctica," Merritt said quickly.

"Uh… what?" Jack asked skeptically. He didn't have to be a mentalist to sense that the other Horsemen were hiding something.

"What Merritt means to say is that chocolate was causing the polar bears to attack citizens living in Antarctica, so the Antarctican government outlawed chocolate," Daniel added, using a more arrogant tone than usual in hopes of convincing Jack.

"I didn't even know Antarctica had a population more than ten," Jack replied, eyes narrowing.

Henley laughed nervously, "Those darn reproductive systems…"

Jack stared deadpanned at his teammates. "Look, if you guys don't want to tell me, fine," Jack muttered as he tried to brush off his feeling of being left out.

"Wait, Jack – come on! You know we aren't –" Henley tried.

But Jack was already out of the living room. The Horsemen listened to his footsteps and heard his bedroom door close.

"Guys, Jack's upset," Henley said sadly.

"He's upset? We should be upset! How could he not tell us it was his birthday?" Merritt countered.

"Well, he won't be upset for long. I suggest that we throw a surprise party for Jack. You only turn 22 once, and Jack has been an important part of the team" Daniel suggested.

"You don't know about me, but I'll bet you want toooo, everything will be alright if we just keep dancing like we're, twenty-twooooooooooooooo..." Merritt sang but was quickly muffled by Henley's hand on his mouth.

"That's a great idea!" Henley exclaimed, not removing her hand from Merritt's mouth.

Merritt finally got her hand off his mouth and asked, "Okay, who's going to make the dinner. Me or Henley?"

"Hey!" Daniel protested. "I've improved! Really!"

"I'll do it," Henley agreed. "I can make Jack's favorite lasagna with extra cheese."

"Okay, and I can bake a chocolate cake for dessert. I'll put the ice cream in the middle and drizzle it with the chocolate syrup, just as Jack likes it," Merritt suggested.

"Hm… okay! Henley will go make dinner and Merritt will cook dessert, and I… Erm… I will…" Daniel tried to be authoritative.

"Find a present for Jack?" Henley suggested.

"Right, I was going to say that," Daniel said quickly.

Henley rolled her eyes. "What will we get Jack?" Henley questioned.

"Hm… a golden toilet!" Merritt humored.

Daniel stared pointedly at Merritt and replied, "That's completely ridiculous. I don't want our most expensive possession to be a toilet."

"Well," Henley pondered as he drove, "what does today's youth like?"

"Sex?" Merritt guessed.

"Food?" Daniel tried.

Henley laughed, "Alright, so I guess we'll get Jack a prostitute wearing lingerie made of bacon."

"Well, he's technically over 21…." Merritt added.

Daniel rubbed his temples and purposely ignored his teammates' suggestions. "I'll just figure something out when I get there. I'll be using the truck," Daniel stated. He began to head for the front door.

"Wait – I need to get some ingredients for my chocolate cake!" Merritt yelled.

"Then you take the car and just drop me off at the shopping center," Daniel suggested.

Merritt and Daniel headed for the door. Before they could leave, Merritt and Daniel recalled that Jack had the keys to the recently fixed truck. They stopped at Jack's bedroom and Merritt opened the bedroom door.

"Hey Jack," Daniel greeted.

"So listen. We need the keys to the truck," Merritt stated.

"What for?" Jack snapped. Jack was still slightly angry that the other Horsemen left him out of the meetings. But he was more upset that the other Horsemen didn't' seem to trust him with their secrets. Though he was younger, Jack felt just as important to the team as anyone else.

"Um… groceries," Merritt mustered. He felt guilty hiding something from Jack, but figured that this would at least be partly true.

Jack sighed. He didn't say anything, but handed the keys over to Merritt. Jack watched as Merritt and Daniel left the room. He really couldn't understand why the Horsemen were still reserved around him, and it made him want to cry.

As Merritt shopped for ingredients and Daniel hunted down a birthday present, Henley worked on the lasagna.

Henley had everything spread out in the kitchen. She was in the middle of grating some cheese when she heard Jack come in.

"Hey Henley," Jack said. He had decided that perhaps he was over reading everything about the Horsemen avoiding him and felt a little better. So, he went to see what Henley was doing and found her in the kitchen.

"Oh… hey Jack," Henley said as she shifted awkwardly around the kitchen, trying to cover up evidence of what she was cooking. She didn't want Jack to see any traces that could make him think she was making lasagna.

"What are you cooking? It smells absolutely delicious," Jack smiled.

"A snack, yeah. Just a smile snack," Henley muttered quickly. She hated lying to Jack, and found it very difficult to keep a straight face.

"That's a lot of ingredients for a snack. Come on! What are we having for dinner?" Jack pressed. He tried to move so that he could see what she was making.

But every time Jack shifted to the left or right, Henley would block his view again.

"Really, Jack. It's not dinner," Henley lied, "It's just a huge snack. You know me… and my big appetite. Ha ha."

Jack frowned and said bitterly, "Fine. I'll just go then." He began to leave the kitchen and heard Henley sigh in relief. "You know, I thought you, out of all people, would never leave me out of anything. I thought we were friends," Jack mumbled.

Henley's heart fell when she heard that. "Come on, Jack. You know that –" she tried, but Jack had already returned back to his room. Henley sighed again as she went back to cooking, and only hoped that she could tell Jack soon. She hated seeing him so down and depressed.

While Henley finished up her lasagna, Daniel had just finished purchasing a gift for Jack.

It was around 5:00pm when Daniel called Merritt to come pick him up from the shopping center. He stood to the side in the parking lot and set Jack's present down on the floor next to him.

Daniel was very proud of the present he found for Jack. He could not wait to tell Henley and Merritt, and absolutely couldn't wait for Jack to see it. He had searched through every single store, questioning every single item, weighing the pros and cons of every item, and haggled prices down. In fact, Daniel was such a hard negotiator that he was actually banned permanently from one of the stores.

Daniel searched for four hours straight. After all, he thought, Jack deserved the best. Jack, though young and inexperienced, had definitely proved that he deserved to be with the Horsemen. And on Jack's birthday, the Horsemen wanted to show their appreciation back to him.

So, what exactly did Daniel get? Daniel found an old billiards table at a small vintage shop at the corner of town. It was average sized wooden billiards table, but what made it special were the decorations. The storeowner had hand-carved, into the wood, card designs such as the Four of Clovers or the Ace of Spades. Daniel figured this suited Jack since Jack always carried around a pack of cards. This table also functioned as a poker table, and ping-pong table.

When Daniel found it, he knew it was perfect for Jack.

After Daniel haggled a price out with the storeowner, he asked the storeowner to carve JACK WILDER in fancy script on the side of the table. The storeowner charged extra, but agreed.

The storeowner disassembled the pool table so that it would fit into a box that could be wrapped. Daniel had the storeowner wrap up the table in fancy packaging and tie a bow around it. He paid the storeowner and hauled the present away.

A sudden honking of a horn snapped Daniel out of his thoughts. He looked up and found a truck coming, with Merritt in the front seat. Daniel waved his hand to signal to Merritt where he was.

Merritt nodded at Daniel. "Hey Daniel!" Merritt yelled through the half rolled down window. He was slowly pulling up to the side of the street where Daniel stood.

Daniel saw that Merritt was going to pull up right next to him. "Wait! Merritt! Stop! You'll crush –" Daniel tried to warn.

But it was too late.

Daniel watched in horror as the truck tires destroyed Jack's gift mercilessly.

Merritt felt a crunch underneath truck. "What was that?"

Daniel glared at Merritt, "That was Jack's birthday present."

"Uh oh," Merritt said, realizing that now they had no present for Jack. "Maybe you can just get another one?" Merritt tried.

Daniel groaned, "It's hand made. One of a kind. Merritt! You just had to go and break it!"

"Why would you put a present on the street?" Merritt argued.

"There is no sidewalk! I was standing in the parking lot and put the present next to me, therefore the present was on the street. I didn't think that you would drive so close to me as to run it over!" Daniel protested.

"I'm sorry alright! I really wanted to give Jack an awesome gift too! But there's no point arguing about it," Merritt countered. "We have to get home so that I can make his cake."

Daniel sighed and got into the car. "What am I going to tell Jack?" Daniel demanded.

Merritt shrugged, "Maybe just make a little I OWE YOU note and then we can give him another gift?"

Daniel groaned in response.

The two sped back to the house. Henley and Daniel set the table together. Henley found some old streamers in the house and hung them up around the kitchen. Daniel found an old Happy 17th Birthday banner and hung it up after crossing out the seventeen.

Jack heard the noises going on in the hallway and in the kitchen. He had his bedroom door closed, and thought about going to see what was happening. But then, he shook his head and decided not to. He didn't want to be rejected yet again by his very own teammates. Jack paced back and forth in his room, muttering to himself and wondering what he did wrong that could cause them to hide secrets from him.

As Daniel and Henley decorated and prepared, Merritt worked on the chocolate cake. He made it especially how jack liked it, with ice cream in the center, chocolate cake surrounding the ice cream, and hot chocolate syrup glazing the cake.

"Hurry up Merritt! Jack is getting impatient. I think he's gotten so bored that he's talking to himself in his room," Daniel rushed. He had walked past Jack's room and heard weird mutters and hushed whispers.

Merritt nodded and quickly took some red icing to decorate the top.

"Okay, I think everything's ready!" Henley exclaimed as she clasped her hands together.

"I'll go get Jack," Daniel said. Daniel went over to Jack's room and opened the door. "Hey Jack?" Daniel smiled.

"Oh, now you want me?" Jack said bitterly. He didn't move from where he lied on his bed.

Daniel ignored the hurt tone in Jack's voice and dragged Jack by the arm.

"What Daniel? Just leave me alone," Jack muttered. Nevertheless, he let Daniel pull him off the bed.

Daniel covered Jack's eyes and said authoritatively, "Don't look until I tell you too."

"What… where are you taking me?" Jack demanded. He tried to take Daniel's hands off of his eyes, but Daniel kept them firmly in place.

Daniel led Jack to the kitchen. Daniel saw that Henley and Merritt were done setting up and said to Jack, "Ready?"

"Ready for what? Daniel, if this is some weird way to get me to sleep with you then you can just –" Jack protested.

"One," Henley began.

"Two," Merritt continued.

"Three!" Daniel shouted and remove his hands from Jack's eyes.

Jack was very surprised. He saw all the decorations. He laughed at the attempt to cross out the 17th from the birthday banner. It warmed his heart. "Wow," Jack said, "Is this what you guys were keeping from me? How did you know it was my birthday?"

When Jack was little, his parents didn't celebrate any of his birthdays with him. Jack celebrated his birthdays, instead, with his grandpa. And it was just the two of them. But since Jack left home, he had never celebrated his birthday. He just didn't see the point.

So when his teammates, whom he had only known for less than a year, went through so much effort to try and make his birthday celebration perfect, Jack was so happy he would probably cry. Fate was cruel to him in the past, but now, it seemed his luck was finally turning around.

"This is why we had to keep it from you. Happy Birthday," Merritt said and gave Jack a hug.

"I can't believe you dared to try and keep it to yourself. You're such an idiot, but it's your birthday so we'll let it slide this one time," Daniel scolded.

"But… how?" Jack asked, still in awe.

"Daniel found a birthday postcard in the mail this morning," Merritt informed.

"So… you all did this… for me?" Jack asked. He couldn't believe anyone would go through that much trouble for him.

"Now, enough talk, let's feast!" Merritt cheered. He lifted the lid off of the plate to reveal Henley's lasagna.

"Lasagna!" Jack cheered.

"With extra cheese," Henley added. "Happy Birthday, Jack!"

The four gathered around the table and sat down to eat.

Daniel raised his glass. "I'd like to propose a toast. To Jack Wilder. You may be the youngest on our team, but you definitely have skills and talent that no one can match."

Jack blushed faintly. It really meant a lot to hear such compliments from Daniel, a guy who normally reserves compliments for himself only. "Thanks Daniel," Jack replied.

"To Jack!" Merritt and Henley cheered.

The team clinked their glasses together and enjoyed Henley's delicious lasagna until the plates were licked clean.

"Wow, that was so good," Jack muttered as he rubbed his stomach.

"But wait – there's more!" Merritt stated excitedly. He smiled and got out of his chair. Merritt went over to the oven and brought out the chocolate cake.

"Dessert too!" Jack cheered. He watched as Merritt lifted the cover off of the cake to reveal the lovely chocolate cake. "Thank you so much Merritt! This is exactly how I like your chocolate cakes and – wait, I think you spelled my name wrong," Jack pointed out.

Merritt glanced at the cake, "What are you talking about? It says happy birthday jack – Oh."

Merritt had, indeed made a mistake on the cake. He had written, in red frosting, HAPPY BIRTHDAY JAK. "Ugh. Daniel rushed me and now the cake is ruined," Merritt complained.

"How is this my fault? Who spells a simple name like Jack wrong?" Daniel countered.

"It's alright guys!" Jack said quickly. "I don't mind. The cake is still chocolate and still very delicious. Thanks Merritt!" And to emphasize that he really didn't mind the minor spelling error, Jack took his finger, scooped up the red frosting, and licked his finger. "Delicious, as always," Jack smiled.

Merritt smiled too, glad that Jack didn't mind.

Henley found some candles in the drawer and used a lighter to light the candles. She then ran over to dim the lights. "Okay, let's sing for Jack!" Henley shouted.

And the Horsemen sang Happy Birthday to Jack. Much to Jack's embarrassment, he learned that none of the Horsemen were singers with good voices. Actually, none of the other Horsemen were decent singers at all. But Jack still smiled and clapped and thanked them.

Merritt went to get a knife to cut some cake slices. Soon, the Four Horsemen were happily eating chocolate cake.

Daniel waited until Jack was finished with his slice, and then said, "So Jack… I don't know how to put this, but we got you a present…"

Jack grinned, "Why do you say it like someone died? Presents are great!"

Daniel looked away and replied, "Well, see. Here's the thing. We got you a billiards table, ping-pong table, and poker table all in one –"

"Woah! That's awesome!" Jack exclaimed. "Where is it?" he asked while jumping up and down in his seat.

Daniel scratched his head and looked away. "See, that's the thing," Daniel tried to say, "Merritt… accidentally ran it over."

Jack's eyebrows crinkled in confusion, "What?"

"I set it down and Merritt didn't see it when he came to pick me up. So, he sort of ran it over with our truck," Daniel said sheepishly.

"I'm sorry, little buddy," Merritt added, "It was an honest mistake."

To their surprise, Jack began to laugh.

"Why are you laughing? I just ran over your awesome present!" Merritt stated.

"I'm not upset about the present," Jack consoled, "Really. I'm not. You all put in so much effort to give me such a great birthday that I can't be mad. Henley worked all day to make her lasagna perfect, Merritt baked a fantastic dessert, and Daniel hunted to the ends of town just to get me something. You guys are the best. Honestly."

"That's great," Merritt sighed in relief.

"We were really worried," Daniel added.

"Well, the only thing to do now is to have some more cake," Henley said happily. She held up the remains of the cake and asked, "Who want seconds?"

Jack smiled and passed Henley his plate.


	21. Elevator

**Thanks for the delightful reviews, favorites, and follows! So, this is a request is from Balletomane0606, in which Daniel and Henley have a moment in an elevator but are interrupted by Merritt.**

**Also, I tried to include a scene from the movie. However, it has been over a month since I've seen the movie, so my memories weren't great. I apologize if this part of the chapter is completely inaccurate, but it was the best I could recall.**

**Disclaimer: Don't own ****Now You See Me**

Elevator

Daniel groaned and wondered why he was the one stuck with Merritt. Daniel and Merritt were in the hospital for a check up, and they were currently in the elevator going up to the doctor's office.

Of course, there had to be a pretty girl in the elevator. And of course, Merritt had to proceed to flirt with her. This left Daniel awkwardly standing towards the corner of the elevator, waiting for their floor.

And it seemed that this elevator was the slowest elevator in the world.

While the elevator slowly elevated, Daniel looked away from his fellow elevator occupants and thought about elevators. He realized that a lot of his elevator memories involved Henley.

And he also realized that every bonding moment in an elevator with Henley, somehow ended up with Merritt ruining everything.

To put it in blunt terms, Merritt was a cockblocker. At least in all of Daniel's elevator memories.

And so, as Merritt began to make out with the pretty girl, Daniel thought back to all his elevator memories.

**The Abandoned Apartment Elevator…**

The Four Horsemen had finally met, and found the blueprints that the mysterious person had wanted them to see. They were setting up the apartment so that they could stay there for a while as they began working on making these blueprints a reality.

They quickly realized that they didn't have any food. So, Jack stayed behind to guard the apartment. Merritt, Daniel, and Henley went out to buy groceries.

When they came, they all took the stairs. But Henley, being an escape artist, found a small elevator to the side of the building. They figured they'd take the elevator since their apartment was fairly high up on the building.

They went inside the elevator and pressed the button for the ground floor.

"So, I didn't get to ask you this since we met again, but how have you been?" Daniel asked politely. Technically, he already knew what Henley had been up to performance wise, seeing as he was the most frequent visitor to her website. But, he wanted to see if he could get any personal life details out.

"Fine, and you?" Henley responded.

"Just wonderful. My shows have been sold out constantly and I've been getting lots of inspiration for new magic tricks," Daniel bragged.

Henley rolled her eyes and countered, "That's great. My shows have been doing quite well themselves."

"I see," Daniel paused, "And how do you like the spotlight?" He tried to look indifferent.

"It's been alright. I've actually been interviewing for a new assistant," Henley said. She figured that if she wanted Daniel to see them as equals, she couldn't hold a grudge towards him forever.

"Oh," Daniel paused again, "And have you found anyone that met your expectations?"

"Yes, actually. I think I'm going to hire this guy named Jesse. He's really sweet and quite talented as an amateur escape artist," Henley informed.

"Well, amateurs tend to make quite a few mistakes," Daniel replied indignantly. He didn't know what the feeling was, but he didn't like it.

Henley frowned, "Everyone's an amateur at some point, Danny. And I think everyone deserves a shot."

"I just don't think that you should risk –" Daniel began to argue, but was suddenly interrupted.

A disgusting smell filled the elevator.

Henley coughed and covered her nose. "What's that awful smell?" Henley complained.

"Sorry guys, I farted," Merritt replied and shrugged his shoulders.

**The Hotel Elevator…**

The Four Horsemen were staying in Vegas for the evening. They had just checked in at the front desk and were now going up to their rooms. Since they arrived a little bit earlier than planned, Jack suggested that they set their luggage down in the rooms and then go party and gamble. The other Horsemen agreed without hesitation, wanting a night out just to have fun.

They all got into the elevator and pushed the button for their floor. The elevator door closed and they felt the elevator slowly going up.

"You know, Danny, we use to play quite a few card games back when I was your assistant," Henley began.

"Yes, yes we did," Daniel replied, smiling slightly.

"Well, I've gotten pretty good at my poker face and since we have the night party…" Henley suggested.

"I accept your challenge, Miss Henley Reeves. Shall we raise the stakes beyond money?" Daniel questioned. It occurred to Daniel that he may have drank a little at dinner, hence his reckless, flirty behavior.

"What did you have in mind?" Henley asked. It occurred to Henley that she might have drank a bit as well.

"I was thinking that we – Merritt! Would you stop that?" Daniel asked annoyed. He turned and glared at his teammate.

Merritt was jumping up and down in the elevator as it went up. "What?" Merritt asked defensively. "It's fun. I think I'm floating in air for a brief moment."

"Well, stop it," Daniel demanded.

"No! You're not the boss of me!" Merritt countered. To prove a point, he jumped faster. Suddenly, Merritt lost balance and swayed in the elevator. Merritt fell against the buttons on the control panel.

As a result, Merritt pushed every single button on the panel. And this hotel had quite a few floors.

"Are you kidding me?" Jack asked in disbelief. "My first time in Vegas and I have to spend like ten minutes in an elevator because my teammate just had to go and push every single floor button."

The Horsemen went through all 43 floors before reaching their room.

**The Moving Walkway…**

The Horsemen were at the airport, trying to get to their boarding gate. They were going on a morning flight with Tressler today to get his personal information for his bank account.

They walked through the terminal doors and got onto the moving walkway that most airports had.

Daniel realized this wasn't an elevator, but still thought about this memory.

They were just standing on the moving walkway and waiting for the walkway to carry them to the other side.

Daniel looked over at Henley and realized she didn't have her usual chocolate latte. "Henley, if you'd like, I could accompany you to the coffee cart over there so that you can get your chocolate latte?" Daniel asked.

"Sure," Henley agreed. She turned to Jack and Merritt and said, "We'll meet you guys at the boarding gate."

The two began to walk on the moving walkway so that they could get to the coffee cart before a huge line appeared.

However, Merritt pulled them by the arm and held them back. "Wait! We need you both," Merritt whined.

"For what?" Daniel demanded, annoyed.

"Jack and I are trying to make a human bicycle," Merritt said proudly.

"I'm sorry, a what?" Henley asked.

"I showed Merritt this YouTube video of four guys making a bicycle on a moving walkway and now he wants to try," Jack answered.

"And we need four people! If this works, we can find more people and make a two-seater bicycle! Now, Daniel get on the floor because you are going to be the base," Merritt instructed.

(To see what Merritt tried to get the Horsemen to do, go to YouTube and search "Human Bicycle In Airport")

**The Mall Elevator…**

The Four Horsemen were at the mall near their house. They had spent the day shopping for new performance outfits. And they were on the elevator, because Merritt complained about taking the stairs.

"I can't wait to wear that new red dress I got!" Henley exclaimed. "If only we had a performance coming up soon so that I could wear it." She pulled out the red strapless dress that she bought to show her teammates. It was a deep, dark red that had a swirly glitter pattern.

Daniel saw the dress and wondered what Henley looked like in it. "Well, if you want, I could take you out to dinner to that new French restaurant at the corner of town. Then you could wear your red dress," Daniel suggested casually.

Henley laughed, "Danny, are you asking me out on a date?" She winked playfully.

"I'd call it a friendly outing," Daniel replied.

Merritt put his arms around Henley and Daniel. "Friendly outing? Count me in!" Merritt butted into the conversation.

"Oh! Me too! Let's go eat that fancy snail stuff," Jack added.

**The Horsemen's Finale…**

This was it. As the elevator rose up, Daniel, Henley, and Merritt braced themselves for their grand finale. None of them were sure where the future would take them, or what could possibly happen next, but they were ready and confident to take the world by storm.

They could hear the cheers and screams from the fans. They could also hear the slow creaking of the elevator in the abandoned warehouse. The FBI was still hot on their tails, and so were Thaddeus Bradley and his magic-busting crew.

Henley was the first to speak up, "So this is it, huh?"

"Yup," Daniel nodded.

Henley looked away nervously and played with the glove on her left hand. "Well, I just wanted to say that –" Henley tried to articulate.

Daniel smiled, "I know, me too."

Daniel and Henley stared at each other, just smiling.

"While we're confessing here, I'd like to say something as well," Merritt drawled out slowly.

Daniel snapped his head to face Merritt, "Go on."

"I just wanted to say that when I first met you, I thought you were a total ass," Merritt stated.

"And?" Daniel stared at Merritt, waiting for him to finish.

"Oh, that's all I wanted to say," Merritt replied cheekily.

Daniel was about to counter that, but the Horsemen had already reached the top of the building and had to get out for their grand finale.

Before they exited the elevator, Henley took Daniel's hand in her left and Merritt's in her right and then walked out together.

Daniel snapped out of his thoughts when the elevator, finally, dinged and opened to the designated floor. Merritt and the girl didn't even notice, and in fact were getting rather intimate beyond kissing.

Daniel sighed and began to walk out. But then, Daniel had an idea. He smiled and walked over to the girl and whispered, "Yeah, in case he forgot to mention, he's got Chlamydia. Hence why he's here."

The girl glared angrily at Merritt, slapped him, and stormed out of the elevator.

Merritt frowned and rubbed his cheek. "Thanks a lot," Merritt muttered sarcastically, "You're such a cockblocker, Daniel."


	22. Twilight

**Thanks for the stupendous reviews, follows, and favorites! This chapter is the request of Lupin fan 1, where Merritt and Daniel have some friendship bonding time.**

**Oh! And just in case you had a request and are wondering why it hasn't been used - have no fear. I'm a little backed up but I am trying to go in order of the requests I receive. Please be patient with me. :)**

**As a heads up, I'm going camping for about a week. Although I know my updates aren't the most important thing for you all, I'd just like to give you all a heads up that there won't be any updates for about a week (since there's no internet in the woods…)**

**Disclaimer: Don't own ****Now You See Me**** or ****Twilight**

Twilight 

Daniel couldn't believe he was doing this.

Daniel had gotten dressed very early in the morning. He figured that none of his teammates would be up, and he could sneak out and do what he had to do.

He took the truck down the library. He quickly parked the car, flipped up the hood of his sweatshirt, and went inside through the double glass doors. Daniel's hands were in his pockets and he strolled purposely towards the Young Adult section

Daniel was looking for a book. But not any book.

Daniel was looking for Twilight.

Recently, he realized that he may, quite possibly, have feelings for Henley. And, much to Daniel's shame, he really wasn't good with relationships. He didn't want to talk to Jack or, heavens forbid, Merritt about love advice, so he went online and searched.

After reading other peoples' comments, he came to the conclusion that Twilight would somehow provide helpful love advice. After all, it seemed that a majority of the female population loved either Edward or Jacob. Daniel read in horror that some girls dump their guy because he didn't match up to Edward or Jacob. If a dead guy and a dog could attract girls, a magician would practically have them falling at his feet right?

And Daniel found the book with ease, because this novel was quite popular. It was displayed along side other young adult hits. Daniel picked up the book and proceeded to the check out desk.

However, he groaned when he realized he didn't have a library card.

Daniel began to panic, but then saw an old lady who had fallen asleep while reading a magazine. Her library card was on the small table next to her.

Daniel knew he shouldn't steal something like a library card, which you could just get for free, but he had to hurry or the other Horsemen would know something went wrong. So, Daniel used his sneaky sleight of hand skills and took the library card.

Daniel mentally praised himself for his skill and went to the book checkout desk. The lady behind the counter scanned the book, and Daniel gave her the library card.

The lady looked at the card then stared at Daniel. After a while, she asked, "Your name… is Mildred Cook?"

Daniel mentally slapped himself for not choosing a man's library card but smoothly lied, "I was named after my grandmother, and my parents really thought I was a girl, until I came out of course."

The lady held up the library card and pointed to the little thumb sized photo on the card. She coughed, "Ms. Cook, you look a lot more… youthful... and female... on your card…"

"It's Botox, dear," Daniel said quickly. "Could you just check out my book for me please?" Daniel hoped she wouldn't call the library police. He didn't even know if such thing existed.

The lady looked at Daniel for a while longer before sighing and letting Daniel through. Daniel took the book and muttered, "Thanks."

Daniel drove home and quickly changed back into his pajamas. Then he sat in his bed and began to read. He continued to read all through the morning.

And Daniel was actually surprised that he was able to read through the book. He had always considered the book a girly book filled with nonsense and teenage hormones. And to a degree, that was true. The author was a good writer – she wrote with descriptions, suspense, and clarity. Daniel felt the plot was alright. If there was something to complain about, Daniel thought, it would a few characters.

In particular, Daniel disliked Bella. Sure, he didn't really get close to any female except Henley. But he wondered if all girls were this clingy, un-independent, and just overall, depressing. Henley was so lively and exciting, and so unpredictable. Henley was definitely independent of everyone. Bella was just boring to Daniel. Daniel felt that if Henley and Bella ever met, Henley would slam Bella to the ground and walk away.

But then again, Daniel acknowledged that he was very biased.

Meanwhile, Merritt was heading towards Daniel's room. Merritt ran out of beer and wanted to ask Daniel to go out and get some. Sometimes, Merritt was just lazy. He figured Daniel would already be up, so he didn't knock and just went inside. "Hey Daniel, I was wondering – DANIEL? THAT BOOK HAS TWO HANDS HOLDING AN APPLE! YOU'RE READING TWILIGHT!" Merritt demanded excitedly.

Amidst all his thoughts, Daniel didn't hear his bedroom door open. And when he saw Merritt, it was too late to hide the book. Daniel was caught red handed. "Alright, bring on your insults. Do you have a camera too? For photographic blackmail and evidence that J. Daniel Atlas reads the novel forbidden from mankind," Daniel said sarcastically.

"What are you talking about?" Merritt asked.

"I read on the internet that a guy reading Twilight is like turning in your manhood," Daniel replied.

"Are you kidding? Twilight is like the ultimate gold. Reading a novel like that is the key to understanding the female race," Merritt assured.

Of course, one must realize that these were two males talking. No female representative to knock some sense into these two was present.

"So… you're not going to expose my secret?" Daniel clarified.

Merritt closed the door and walked over to Daniel's bed. "Don't worry," Merritt whispered. "You're secret is safe with me. I'm reading it too."

Here, Daniel's mouth dropped. "What?" Daniel gasped.

"Really, I'll prove it to you," Merritt stated. He ran out of the room and back in a few minutes later. Merritt closed the door and held up his own copy of Twilight for Daniel to see.

"Wow…" Daniel said, still slightly in shock.

"So hey, how about we have a book club of just the two of us. We can collect our notes from the novel and then use it to attract every female in the world," Merritt said excitedly.

Really, Daniel only wanted to attract Henley. But he did think it would be helpful to have Merritt's findings as well as his own, so he agreed.

And so, every other day, the two would secretly get together in Daniel's room. They would close the door and discuss a few chapters of Twilight as well as the love advice they've gathered for the day.

And while they had their meetings, the two felt closer. Though they'd never admit it, these book club meetings allowed them to get to know each other even more. For example, Daniel learned that if Merritt were Bella, he would've gone for Emmett, whom Merritt felt didn't get enough attention in the novel even though he was the funniest guy. Merritt learned that Daniel was trying to learn the romantics of Edward Cullen so that he could finally progress with Henley.

One day, Daniel and Merritt were having their usual Twilight/How to Comprehend the Female Mind/Love Advice meetings. Merritt had baked some cookies and Daniel set up his room with lots of pillows.

Unfortunately for Daniel, in the middle of their book club, Henley came in.

Henley wanted to ask Daniel for some help with the mechanics of one of her escape tricks. She figured that he'd be in his room, and he was. But she didn't expect to see Merritt. And she definitely didn't expect to see two copies of Twilight sitting on Daniel's bed. She gave them a strange look and asked tentatively, "Daniel… Merritt… are you both reading… Twilight?"

For once, Daniel was at a loss for words. This was it, Daniel thought, Henley would find out that he went to a vampire for love advice. Daniel was prideful, that's for sure, but he couldn't imagine the horror of the girl he liked finding out that he read, and actually enjoyed, Twilight.

Merritt saw Daniel's distressed look and turned back to Henley. He smiled and replied, "What? Don't be ridiculous, Henley! Why would Daniel ever read Twilight? If he ever read anything, it'd be an autobiography on J. Daniel Atlas of course." To convince Henley, he laughed loudly.

Henley still eyed the two suspiciously, "Then why are there two copies?"

Merritt didn't miss a beat and answered, "I was the one reading Twilight –"

Here Merritt was interrupted by Henley's burst into laughter. "Wow Merritt, Twilight?" Henley laughed.

Merritt turned faintly pink, "Well, I wanted… love advice. But anyways, I had two copies because I wanted someone to discuss the novel with. So, I got a copy for Daniel, but he refused to read it."

Henley's laughter eventually died, but she still held a smile. "Well, it's great that you're getting love advice. But let me tell you, Edward Cullen is not your ideal role model. If you want the opinion of a fellow female, I think he's kind of creepy," Henley commented. And with that, Henley walked out of the room, still laughing a bit every once and a while.

Daniel sighed and made a note to cross out all the love advice he'd taken notes on as he read the book.

Merritt saw Daniel's dejected look and pat him on the back, "Cheer up Daniel. So what if you took advice to impress a girl who thinks the guy you took advice from is a complete creep. Don't worry, I'll help you get the girl of your dreams," Merritt winked.

Daniel grinned half-heartedly. "You know Merritt," Daniel admitted. "You're not so bad. You're actually pretty awesome."

"And don't you forget it," Merritt grinned. "Now then, I know we finished Twilight and the love advice you got from it was practically useless. But…" Merritt turned around and pulled out another book. "I have a copy of New Moon if you're interested," Merritt said, wiggling his eyebrows.

Daniel laughed and took the book from Merritt.


	23. J Daniel Atlas

**I'm back! Camping was so much fun and I already miss the outdoors. Maybe I need a second trip.**

**Thanks for the excellent reviews, follows, and favorites! You all rock - almost 100 follows! :)**

**Okay, this chapter is a request from Kathi, where Daniel and Henley bond and show some affection without forgetting. And it's also the request of Shinigamilover2, where Daniel says his favorite movie is Monsters Inc and he has a stuffed animal Sulley (I hope you don't mind but I changed the plot a bit). **

**Also, Chaos Of A Butterfly requested to learn about each of the horsemen's pasts. I've decided to reveal the pasts one by one, not all at once and in no particular order. This chapter is about Daniel's past. **

**Disclaimer: Don't own ****Now You See Me**

J. Daniel Atlas

It was another typical day in the Horsemen household. Jack was making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for lunch. Henley was outside watering her trumpet vine flowers. Daniel was watching the news on the TV. And Merritt was taking a nap on the couch.

All of a sudden, the doorbell rang. Repeatedly.

Daniel went over to answer the door. He opened it up to find Dylan.

And a baby. Dylan and a baby.

Merritt had also walked over to the door. "Oh hey Dylan – Whoa there! Since when did you and Alma hook up? And produce a child?" Merritt joked.

Dylan let himself inside and said, "It's not my child. Alma's sister is visiting and while Alma takes her sister to sight-see, I'm stuck taking care of this demon." Dylan held up the baby for emphasis. Dylan had scratches on his face, a band-aid on his forehead, and looked extremely tired.

Jack had just finished making his sandwiches. He quickly washed his hands and came over to where they were. Jack looked at Dylan and asked timidly, "What happened to you?"

Dylan set the baby down on the couch and ran his hand through his hair agitatedly. "That thing happened to me, that's what," Dylan muttered.

Henley had also heard the commotion and came inside to see what Dylan needed from them. She spotted the baby and said, "Aw… a baby!" Henley walked over to the couch where the baby sat and stared at the baby.

The baby stared back for a while, but suddenly started to cry.

Henley looked up at Dylan and exclaimed, "Dylan, what happened!"

"I don't know," Dylan shrugged, "It just starts crying all the time." Dylan went over and picked up the baby. Once he picked up the baby, though, the baby began to cry and pull Dylan's hair. "Ow! Hey! Quit it!" Dylan shouted at the baby.

Daniel shook his head. "Let me," Daniel said frustrated. He picked up the baby and magically, the baby stopped crying.

"Daniel's amazing!" Jack cheered.

"Hey, are you hungry," Daniel asked the baby gently. "Dylan, where's the milk?"

Dylan fumbled around in the bag that he was carrying earlier. "There's this bag of stuff that Alma's sister game me, so the milk should be in here. Found it!" Dylan exclaimed and passed the milk to Daniel.

Daniel gave the baby bottle to the baby and the baby wolfed it down hungrily.

"Man, when was the last time you fed the baby, Dylan?" Merritt asked.

"Uh…" Dylan honestly didn't know.

Daniel waited until the baby was done drinking, and held the baby up again, lightly patting the baby on its back. The baby burped after a while.

"Please, just take care of him for the day? I'll be back at night to take care of him!" Dylan pleaded desperately.

And thus, the Horsemen were left with taking care of the baby.

Daniel handed the baby, who was now asleep, to Merritt. Then, he motioned for Henley to follow him. Daniel led Henley to his room and pulled out a small box.

Henley opened the box and found toys. Granted, there weren't a lot of toys, but Henley could tell they by their worn out look that these toys were treasured. "Aw… are these your childhood toys?" Henley asked curiously.

"A few are mine. The others were my little sister's," Daniel replied. He picked up a stuffed Sulley and Mike from Disney's Monsters Inc and stared at the two stuffed animals longingly.

Henley noticed the sudden change in Daniel's behavior, but figured it was best not to be pushy. She knew that Daniel had a little sister, who was dead now. And Daniel would talk if he wanted to.

She picked up the box of toys and said, "Come on, let's bring these to the baby!"

They returned to the living room where Merritt was playing peek-a-boo with the baby and Jack was laughing.

"Say, what's the baby's name anyways?" Henley asked. She set the box down next to the baby and pulled out some of the toys.

"Dylan said his name is James," Daniel replied. He took the stuffed Sulley and waved it in from of James.

James giggled and tried to reach for the stuffed animal.

"Well, James," Henley cooed, "You are just the cutest!"

Merritt got up and stretched. "This has been fun, but Jack and I have to head down to the movies. There's a new action movie that apparently is an absolute must see."

Jack nodded and left the room to get his jacket.

"Wait, what about James?" Daniel demanded.

"Eh… I'm sure Henley and you can both deal with a little baby. We got a movie to catch," Merritt replied.

Jack and Merritt took the car and left before Daniel could say anything else.

Henley slowly rose to her feet. "I'm going to go and work on some new escape artist stunts," Henley said.

"Oh no," Daniel shook his head and pulled her back down by the arm. "If I stay here, then you are staying too." Daniel turned back and shifted a toy train towards James.

Henley, meanwhile, stood where she was and blushed. It was as though he was saying to stay by his side. Henley blushed some more for even thinking such a thing.

Through the day, Henley and Daniel took care of the baby together. They changed his diaper, fed him, played with him, talked to him, and laughed with him. Soon, the baby fell asleep and Daniel brought James over to Daniel's bed so that he could rest.

Daniel closed the door to his room quietly, and returned to the living room. He found Henley outside, picking up the toys from when they had taken James outside to play. "Hey," Daniel said, approaching Henley, "Don't come out here wearing so little. It's cold."

"Don't worry, Danny. I'm not cold –" Henley protested.

Daniel ignored her and told her come towards him. He took his large coat and wrapped it around the both of them.

"Danny," Henley stated, flustered. "Are you trying to warm me up?" However, Henley didn't try to slip out of Daniel's coat.

The two stayed like that, huddled in Daniel's large coat, just looking out towards the night sky.

"Yup," Daniel said absentmindedly. "It's been so long since I held a baby. I'm lucky I still remember how to take care of one."

Henley looked up surprised, "What? You seemed so professional and experienced. Maybe I should start calling you Momma Danny?"

Daniel glared at her, "Are you trying to start something here…"

Henley laughed. "You know, this is the first time I've played with someone so small," Henley said thoughtfully.

Now it was Daniel who looked surprised. "Really?"

"Yeah. I was an only child. Say, were you cute when you were a baby?" Henley teased.

Daniel mumbled incoherently in response.

Henley didn't say anything for a while, but then asked tentatively, "Was your little sister cute as a baby?" She waited nervously for a response and was worried she had overstepped her boundaries in asking about Daniel's personal life.

Finally, Daniel broke the silence again. "Do you want to hear the story? It's nothing interesting," Daniel asked quietly.

"I want to listen," Henley assured. And she did, because she wanted to know more about Daniel. Then Henley shook her head, "Are you sure it's alright if I hear this? Because…"

"Stupid, I already said I'd tell you," Daniel laughed lightly. "Unfortunately they aren't exactly pleasant memories. My parents died when I was about a teenager. Growing up, I took care of myself and my little sister. Her name was Grace. We were close and she was the most important person in my life. But I can't ever forget that day. She asked me to take her to the park, and I told her I would after my homework was done. Later on the day, she disappeared. I began to panic when she didn't return home. Finally the police called. Grace was murdered and wanted me to verify the body they found."

Henley gasped quietly and held Daniel's hands, which began to tremble.

"I couldn't even think. I was so angry and sad – I hadn't protected her. You know what she was holding when I went to verify the body? She was holding the stuffed animal Mike that I gave her when we bought the stuffed animal pair Mike and Sulley during her first Disney trip. I told her, when I gave her Mike, that Monsters Inc was my favorite movie, because it was about two best friends that make a difference. And she held up her pinky and said, 'Danny, promise we'll be like Mike and Sulley'," Daniel said desperately.

Daniel would never forget when he lost Grace, Henley thought. Henley suddenly took the coat and wrapped it more around Daniel.

Daniel looked up in surprise.

"I thought you looked cold," Henley replied, blushing slightly. "You know, you did protect Grace. And I want to protect you like you did Grace. That's why I'm glad you told me."

Daniel pulled Henley into a hug.

Henley was so shocked she didn't move for a while, but slowly hugged back. She brought her head to his shirt and crinkled her nose, "Danny, you smell like milk."

Daniel brought his face close to Henley's, as if to kiss her. But he turned his face to her neck and sniffed. "Hypocrite, you do as well," Daniel teased.

Henley looked away and tried to change the subject. "You know, Danny, I think you're a lot like Sulley. You're both reckless and controlling and protective," Henley said in a matter-of-fact tone.

Daniel laughed lightly and then said, "It's funny, Grace said the same thing too. When I found out she was murdered, I wanted to find the killer. All I wanted was justice and revenge. I hunted down every street, researched everything, but no one had a clue."

Henley didn't say anything for a while, but then got up, "I'll help you."

Daniel looked at her face, "What?"

"I'll help you find Grace's killer," Henley confirmed.

Daniel stared at her, "You do realize that I'd probably kill the killer? You, Henley, who wouldn't kill a fly, would help me?"

Henley smiled, "Yes, I believe in you." Henley felt that even if they caught the culprit, there wouldn't be a way to lessen the pain Daniel suffered, but at least Henley could try and let Daniel remember the happiness of his memories with Grace. "Besides," Henley added, "If your really do want to kill the murderer, I'll be there stop you. I'll be there to protect you."


	24. Reflection

**Thanks for the thoughtful reviews, follows, and favorites! This chapter is a request from Balletomane0606, where Henley gets jealous. And also a request from Kathi, where a kiss between Daniel and Henley isn't forgotten. **

**Disclaimer: Don't own ****Now You See Me**

Reflection

Henley had always considered herself a headstrong, brave, and competitive. She didn't feel like Miss Universe, but she knew that she could turn heads if she wanted. Henley was independent. She didn't need anyone. And Henley certainly didn't need romance.

Until it arrogantly caught her by surprise in an elevator.

The first time Daniel and Henley met, Henley couldn't imagine anyone more arrogant, narcissistic, and insensitive. Certainly J. Daniel Atlas was impressive in skills and talents. Maybe he deserved to be egoistical, but even egotism had its limits.

She came to his office in search of a job. And his office was no office. It was literally a penthouse that began with a mailbox with gold engraving J. DANIEL ATLAS and ended with a glass elevator. The penthouse was surrounded by exotic flowers and was a visible five stories. Everywhere, there were mirrors and photos of Daniel or Daniel's performances or Daniel's awards.

Talk about modesty, Henley thought sarcastically. She debated on leaving, but she really needed a head start into the magic business and it wasn't everyday that such a well-known name was hiring an assistant.

The butler, yes this magician had a butler, directed to take the elevator to the top floor, where Daniel's office would be. She took the glass elevator up and went inside his office.

His office was equally lavishing as the rest of his penthouse, Henley thought. To her horror, there was an ice sculpture of Daniel standing by the entrance to the elevator. She looked up when she heard footsteps and was greeted by J. Daniel Atlas himself.

He looked at his clipboard and ran a pen down to her name. "Hi… Henley Reeves?" he asked with a smirk. He held out his hand.

"Yup, that's me. Mr. Atlas, let me just say you are very talented and a great inspiration to me," Henley said as they shook hands. She couldn't help but notice now defined his hands were.

"Well, obviously," Daniel said and led her to his office desk.

She sat down in the chair and he sat down in his big leather recliner.

"Hm…" Henley muttered awkwardly. "So, I guess I should begin about myself. My name is Henley Reeves, as you know, and I assume you read my application –" she started nervously.

"Nope," Daniel replied bluntly. He stared at her.

Henley frowned, "Um… well, I suppose you're a busy man. I'll inform you on the gist of it all then. I'm an amateur escape artist. I've worked on small performances at local cafes and restaurants. I know I'm not an expert yet but I have some great blueprints for some escapes that I think will really amaze audiences. And I know that escape artist is a different category than your sleight of hand tricks but I was really hoping you'd give me a shot." Henley looked nervously at Daniel, waiting for what he would say.

Daniel stared at her and then turned in his chair. He took a tray of teas, coffees, and small snacks and put it on the table. "Would you like something?" Daniel asked. He took a coffee for himself.

Henley stared in confusion. She wondered if he even heard what she said. Nevertheless, she took a coffee to be polite. "Is there anything else you want to know?" Henley asked.

Daniel placed the tray back and took a sip of his coffee. "You know, your hair resembles the trumpet vines from my childhood," he commented.

"Um… thanks? Is that a good thing?" Henley tried. She wasn't sure if Daniel was as mentally sane as he seemed in performances. After all, you don't become such a great success with full sanity right?

Now Daniel smiled, "I have a bias towards red-heads."

Henley made a mental cheer, glad to get on her supposed boss' good side. "So, back to my application, are my chances good? Not that you have to tell me now since I know you must have other applicants, but…" Henley rambled nervously.

"You're really pretty. Have a boyfriend?" Daniel complimented and flashed her a smile that made girls pass out.

Henley blushed faintly, "Thanks for the compliment, and nope, no boyfriend."

Daniel chewed on a cookie. "Say, maybe you and I could eat a nice dinner at that new steakhouse? And then we could head back here for…dessert," Daniel trailed off.

Henley frowned now. She had come here with serious intentions of getting hired as a magic assistant and clearly she wasn't being taken seriously. "No thanks, I'd rather just get through this interview right now," Henley stated curtly.

Daniel rolled his chair over to her. He looked her in the eyes and said, "But wouldn't it be great to eat dinner with the J. Daniel Atlas. I'm everyone's role model and everyone's envy."

"Mr. Atlas could we please just stay on topic," Henley said tiredly.

"Ms. Reeves," Daniel mocked, "Could you please just stop talking."

Henley glared incredulously at the performer. Here was one of the best, or maybe the best, magical illusionist there was and he was hitting on her. Part of Henley was flattered and really wanted to say yes. The other part of Henley wanted to slap him and storm away.

Henley supposed she was always one to defend her own honor. She took her coffee and dumped it on Daniel's head. "If you're not going to consider me seriously for the job opening," Henley stated calmly, "my time here is pointless. Goodbye, Mr. Atlas." With that Henley stormed out of the room leaving a coffee-drenched Daniel sitting in shock at his desk.

Henley got into the elevator and mentally slapped herself. She definitely wasn't getting the job now, and with Daniel's power and fame, no one would ever hire her. Henley's heart dropped when she figured that her magic career was practically over. She supposed she could always try and find alternative careers. Maybe she could take up cooking or knitting.

Henley also realized that she turned down a really hot guy. Daniel, though a total jerk, fit the role of an illusionist perfectly. She loved his slight bed head hair, and the way he'd half-smile at her. She didn't know if they were tricks to get her to sleep with him, but she thought they made him all the more attractive.

And Henley realized again, that she turned down this really attractive guy, something that didn't really come by in her life often. It wasn't that Henley's love life was dull, it was just no one ever really caught her eye. She didn't have an exact look in mind, and she wasn't exactly searching out a boyfriend. But she never had that lust at first sight with anyone. Except him.

The elevator dinged open and much to Henley's surprise, Daniel stood right where the doors opened.

Before Henley could even ask what he was doing he kissed her. Henley was in such a shock that by the time she understood what was happening, Daniel pulled his lips away.

Daniel smirked at her and said cockily, "I hope you know now what you missed out on. But besides that, you start tomorrow." And with that, he walked away leaving a very shocked and very flustered Henley.

Henley snapped out of her thoughts when she head Daniel shuffling around his room. "Danny – are you finally ready?" Henley whined.

"Be patient. A good performer never shows any signs of bad days and always looks his best," Daniel replied. He was looking at the mirror in his room and fixing his hair. He turned to the left and right and tried to check his outfit.

Henley poked her head in his room and complained again, "Come on! Honestly you spend more time getting ready than me and all the female race combined!"

Daniel stared at himself admiringly in the mirror for ten more minutes before saying, "Okay, ready!"

Henley sighed and rubbed her temples, "Danny, we missed out dinner reservation. All because you kept looking at yourself in the mirror! I swear, you don't give anyone or anything more attention than your reflection."

Daniel shrugged, "Want to go to the fast food place? It doesn't need a reservation."

"I'm going to eat French Fries in my nice new red dress?" Henley said pointedly. Then, her stomach grumbled. "Ugh, fine. Let's go," Henley gave in.

Daniel smiled and opened the front door. "After you," he said.

Henley hated how Daniel could do that. She hated how he could make her so angry and so frustrated, yet make her so hopelessly in love in a few seconds as well.

Henley had only one question to ask the females of the world. What are you suppose to do when your competition to win your man's heart is your man's reflection?


	25. Hot Tub

**Thanks for the nice reviews, follows, and favorites! This chapter is one from Pink Sun, the Horsemen use the hot tub. **

**Disclaimer: Don't own ****Now You See Me**

Hot Tub

The Horsemen have been living in the house for a while now, yet they realized that they hadn't utilized the Jacuzzi. So, Merritt suggested that this afternoon, they would all just relax in bubbling water.

Merritt was the first to get dressed. He changed into his black and white striped swim trunks and walked outside to the Jacuzzi. He brought the hose over and began to fill the tub with water.

Daniel came into the backyard next. He wore dark green swim trunks. "Hey Merritt," Daniel greeted. "Where's everyone else?"

"I don't know, but they should be here any minute," Merritt replied. He turned off the hose when the water reached the top and was about to step in.

Daniel held Merritt back and scolded, "Merritt, we should wait for everyone."

"Ugh. Fine," Merritt whined. He sat on the porch next to Daniel and the two chatted idly for a while. They turned around when they heard the door to the backyard slide open.

Henley came in. She was wearing a red halter bikini. She also wore a large-brimmed white hat that had a little flower on the side. "Hey guys," she said excitedly, "Let's get our hot tub on!"

Daniel was speechless, something he hardly ever was. He couldn't help but stare. And his stare earned Henley's blush.

Merritt looked between the two and whispered, "That awkward moment when you two have seen each other naked and seen each other clothed, but never that in-between that swimwear provides."

And the two glared at him.

Daniel coughed and said authoritatively, "Henley, you have to change."

"What? Why?" Henley demanded, upset. She wore the bikini in hopes of impressing a certain arrogant magician, and was disappointed that he didn't seem to like it.

"It's fine," Merritt assured. "Henley's gorgeous, let her flaunt here gorgeousness." Merritt hoped that the meant-to-be couple would calm down and he wouldn't have to deal with another argument.

"Henley needs to change," Daniel restated calmly.

"Why do I have to listen to what you have to say?" Henley countered.

"That isn't even a swimsuit! Go change into something that won't give you a full body sunburn," Daniel replied.

Henley glared, "At least I have a great body." She stared pointedly at Daniel's slight muffin-top stomach.

"Oh, I see. You're still upset from when I called you fat. I don't have a flabby stomach, in fact, this happens to be a toned, well-defined stomach," Daniel defended.

"Oh, you mean that one-pack flab of a stomach you have right there?" Henley snapped. "I'm not changing."

Merritt had always heard that hot tubs screamed sex and sexual connotations. In fact, Merritt always thought every memory of a hot tub would be about him and a girl getting heated in the Jacuzzi. But Merritt never expected to be listening to his teammate criticize the hotness of each other. Merritt whistled awkwardly and said, "Hey, where's Jack?"

And as if on cue, Jack came into the backyard. He was in a navy Speedo, but that wasn't all. The other Horsemen looked at his messed up hair and light bruises on his arms. It looked as though a bear had mauled Jack.

"Whoa! Jack, what happened?" Henley asked, concerned.

Jack shuddered, "It was horrible. Who knew that wearing a Speedo without water in sight was a free-for-all pass to beat up the poor guy in the Speedo."

The other Horsemen raised an eyebrow in confusion.

Jack noticed the confused looks he was getting and explained, "I had already changed into my Speedo. And yes – I wear a Speedo. I don't want to cover up any of my beauty –"

Here, the other Horsemen laughed loudly.

Jack glared but continued, "Anyways, I wanted to get us some drinks, so that we could relax in the Jacuzzi to the extreme. So I drove to the grocery store. I didn't cover myself up because it is extremely hot today and besides, it's not like people have never seen a Speedo before. Next thing I know it, moms were shielding their children's' eyes, old grandmas were hitting me with their purses, and someone called the police."

Merritt didn't know what was funnier, the events that happened to Jack or Jack in a Speedo. "Wow Jack, that sounds… traumatic," Merritt commented.

"Ever hear of a social norm? Yeah, most people don't wear swimsuits to the grocery store. Especially not swim suits that resemble underwear," Daniel said.

"Let's just get in the Jacuzzi. I didn't even get the drinks," Jack mumbled.

The four got into the Jacuzzi and let their stress disappear as the hot bubbles massaged their backs. Merritt adjusted the bubbles so that they were just the right amount of strength, but not so overwhelming that they ripped through skin.

"Why does Jack get to wear a Speedo and I can't wear a bikini?" Henley demanded after a while.

Merritt groaned, "Next time, we're all going skinny dipping. No more swimwear for the Four Horsemen. Ever."


	26. Tampon

**Thanks for the delightful reviews, follows, and favorites! This is a request from Who and monkeygirl77. Both of you wanted some bonding time between Jack and Daniel. **

**Disclaimer: Don't own ****Now You See Me**

Tampon

Jack was going grocery shopping today, since it was his turn. He got changed and grabbed the keys to the truck.

He also pulled the sheet of paper off the grocery list notepad that the Horsemen had in place. If any of the Horsemen needed anything, they would write down the item and whoever was in charge of groceries that day would get it.

Jack was about to leave when Daniel came out of no where and shouted, "Wait!" Daniel was in the middle of putting on his coat.

Jack turned around, "What?"

"I'm coming with you," Daniel stated, "Since your driving isn't the best."

Jack opened his mouth to argue, but then figured Daniel was probably right.

The two left the house and got into the car. Daniel took the wheel and Jack sat in the passenger seat.

As they drove, Daniel asked, "So, what do we need to buy?"

Jack unfolded the list that he had stuffed in his pocket and replied, "Hm…let's see. There's the usual fruit and vegetables… pens… soap… ice cream… toothpaste… some more beer…" Jack's face drained of color and he suddenly stopped talking when he saw the next item.

"What's wrong, Jack?" Daniel asked, wondering why Jack suddenly stopped.

"Um… tampons," Jack mumbled.

"Tampons are wrong. I totally agree," Daniel said, amused.

"No," Jack shook his head, "We have to buy tampons."

The two exchanged looks and instantly knew that it was each other's first time buying tampons or probably even going to the feminine products area of any grocery store.

Jack asked awkwardly, "Can't Henley just... hold it?" He didn't need Daniel's incredulous look to tell him that not buying the tampons would definitely cause Henley to strangle them both.

Daniel groaned, "I guess we've got to do what we've got to do right?"

"You know what they say right," Jack laughed nervously, "Real men buy tampons."

"Right…" Daniel muttered.

The two arrived at the grocery store. Daniel got a shopping cart and slowly, the two made their way around the store buying everything and explicitly ignoring the very last item on the list.

But finally, they found everything else on the list and had to face the difficult task. They hesitantly approached the health care aisle and inched their way over to feminine products.

Jack looked at the section in horror and whined, "Why are there so many?"

Here, a few nearby female shoppers stared at him.

Jack blushed and pulled the hood of his sweatshirt up.

"Which one do we get?" Daniel wondered aloud. He picked up two random boxes and looked at the label, "What's the difference between Gentle Glide and Gentle Glide 360?"

"I don't know. Maybe one rotates? Or it is in the shape of a circle?" Jack complained. "How about we just grab her a random one and go?"

Daniel rolled his eyes, "If we get her the wrong one, then we have to come back." And Daniel knew that they didn't want to return.

"True," Jack admitted. "But how are we going to find out which one she uses? We can't just ask a sales person."

So what did these two brilliant magicians do? They hid in a nearby aisle and took count of which brand most females bought. However, they weren't very discreet about being unnoticed, and one female customer reported suspicious activity to the store supervisor.

Jack and Daniel saw the supervisor coming towards them. So, Jack grabbed a box of the most popular purchase in their poll so far, and the two of them ran to the cashier. Daniel started running while pushing the grocery cart and Jack ran behind him. They left a few hundred dollars on the counter and pushed their shopping cart as fast as possible.

The two Horsemen high fived as they hopped into the shopping cart and rode it all the way to the truck. By then, the store supervisor had stopped chasing them and dismissed them as destructive teenage hooligans.

Unfortunately, though they escaped the supervisor, Jack and Daniel didn't realize that if they both were inside the cart, no one was steering. And since no one was steering, Jack and Daniel crashed into a tree next to their truck.

Daniel, because he sat in the front of the cart, faced full impact with the tree. "Ow!" Daniel shouted. He slowly climbed out of the cart. "Jack, are you okay?"

"Yup… that was pretty fun!" Jack exclaimed. He climbed out of the cart and placed the groceries into the truck. He turned back to face Daniel and gasped, "Daniel, your nose is bleeding!"

Daniel brought his hand up to his nose and found blood. "Get me a tissue. Now!" he demanded.

Jack searched around the truck but couldn't find any tissues. "I can't find any!" Jack yelled back.

"Well get me something. My nose is bleeding like a waterfall," Daniel exclaimed.

Jack looked around in the grocery bags. He picked up the tampon box and ripped it open. He took out a tampon and gave it to Daniel, "Here."

Daniel stared at Jack, "What am I suppose to do with this?"

"Well, it stops bleeding in females. It should stop your nose bleed too," Jack suggested sheepishly.

Daniel sighed, "Fine." He opened it and then held it in his hands. "Now what?" Daniel asked.

"I don't know! They have instructions right? Use them!" Jack yelled, panicked.

With some help from the instruction label, Daniel managed to successfully stop the bleeding. He inserted the tampon into his left nostril and got it to stay securely in place. "I can't believe I learned how to use a tampon," Daniel muttered.

Jack stared at Daniel, who now had a tampon up his nose, and laughed.

"Shut up," Daniel muttered and got into the car.

Jack quickly scrambled into the car, but was still laughing.

"I'm very tempted to just dump you here and drive," Daniel said.

"Okay, okay," Jack replied. "But it is pretty funny. It's not everyday I get to see my role model with a tampon up his nose."

"Ha. ha," Daniel replied sarcastically, but Daniel was smiling on the inside. He always forgot that Jack looked up to him and it was great being reminded that he did. Daniel was especially proud that even with a feminine product up his nose, Jack still admired him.

The two drove back to the house. On the way, many drivers would look at the driver of the truck and see a tampon up his nose. Then, the drivers had to pull over until they could stop laughing. Daniel and Jack would also laugh when the drivers nearly swiveled out of their lanes due to laughter.

Aside from that, Daniel and Jack returned home safely.

Jack Wilder and J. Daniel Atlas: two great sleight of hand magicians who bonded over tampons.


	27. Jack Wilder

**Thanks for the great reviews, follows, and favorites! This chapter is a request from Hilight, Jack's parents showing up at the house. And it's also a request from Chaos Of A Butterfly, Jack's total sob story. **

**Disclaimer: Don't own ****Now You See Me**

Jack Wilder 

It was around 7:00pm when Dylan dropped by to see the Horsemen unannounced and unexpected.

The Horsemen were having French fries and burgers from the local fast food place. When they heard the doorbell ring, Henley was surprised to see Dylan. "Dylan!" Henley cheered.

"Dylan, my man!" Merritt said. He licked his fingers and came over to Dylan to pat him on the back.

"Hey Dylan. You should've called first, and then we would've bought an extra burger," Daniel greeted.

But Dylan didn't smile. In fact, he looked grave as he said, "I have something I want to talk to Jack about. Where is he? May I come in?"

"And us too," came another voice.

Merritt, Henley, and Daniel looked behind Dylan and to their horror, found Jack's parents.  
"Um… no," Merritt said bluntly.

"No one asked you," Jack's father snapped.

"Well no one INVITED you," Henley snapped back.

"You will not talk to my husband like that!" Jack's mother exclaimed.

"I'll settle this," Daniel said calmly. "You may not come in because Jack is inside and you two aren't worthy to see Jack whether he's eating a burger, at his wedding, or even taking a piss on the toilet."

Dylan sighed, "This is business involving Jack that is important. Trust me, if it isn't important, I wouldn't bring them anyways."

The three Horsemen sighed and let all of them in.

"Jack? You here?" Dylan yelled.

"Yup! What are you doing here Dylan?" Jack yelled back. Jack looked up in surprise, sauce from his burger dripping from his mouth. However, his surprise turned into a frown, "Mom? Dad?"

"Hi Jack," his father nodded curtly.

Jack only stared in response.

"That's no way to greet your parents," the father scolded.

"There are no parents to greet," Merritt muttered.

Dylan tried to ease the tension in the room. "Jack, we have some business to discuss," Dylan explained.

"Uh… sure," Jack said and quickly wiped his mouth with a napkin. He followed Dylan into the other room and closed the door so that they could talk privately.

Daniel went over to the room where Dylan and Jack were talking. The door was closed, but Daniel pressed his ear against it.

Merritt and Henley came over to try and listen as well. Soon, the three were pushing each other out of the way to try and press their ear on the door.

"Move your fat head Daniel," Merritt snapped.

"Why don't you move yours first," Daniel retorted.

"Shut up! I can't hear!" Henley whispered frustratingly.

Suddenly, the door opened and the three fell on top of each other. They looked up guiltily, ready for Jack to poke fun at them. But they immediately knew something was wrong because neither Jack nor Dylan were smiling.

Dylan stepped over the pile of Horsemen carefully and looked back at Jack. "You can think over what you want to do, and then let me know in the morning," Dylan said.

"As soon as possible," Jack's mother said cheerfully.

"Let's get out of this disgusting house already," Jack's father muttered.

Dylan smiled a weak smile, "Good night everyone." And with that, Dylan closed the front door and drove off.

Henley got up from the pile first and helped Merritt and Daniel up. Then she walked over to Jack. "Hey, listen, whatever it is, you don't have to tell us if you don't want to," Henley comforted.

Merritt and Daniel nodded in agreement.

"No," Jack sighed. "You all are important to me, and I want to tell you guys." He went over to the living room couch and sat down, the other Horsemen sitting next to him.

"Really," Daniel reassured, "We won't hold it against you if you don't share."

"We already knew you were a vampire," Merritt joked, trying to cheer Jack up.

Jack grinned faintly, but then turned solemn again. "So," Jack took a deep breath, "When I was in the hospital, you guys met my parents –"

"Ugh," Merritt shuddered, recalling the sight of the two despicable beings.

"Shh… don't interrupt!" Henley scolded but then covered her mouth when she realized that she was interrupting as well.

"It's alright," Jack assured. "Actually, I think it'd be best to explain from the very beginning. After all, you guys are my family and I want you to know about my story." Jack looked nervously at his teammates, worried that they didn't want to hear about his childhood or would judge him once they found out.

Daniel saw the look and panicked look on Jack's face and assured, "We're a team. Nothing is going to change that, not the story of your life before us or anything else."

"Definitely," Merritt agreed.

Henley nodded and put her hand on Jack's reassuringly.

Jack was relieved at the support he was receiving. "Well, I was born in Brooklyn and lived there for most of my life. My dad and mom work together to run one of the world's biggest resort chains. In short," here Jack laughed bitterly, "I was a good old fashioned rich kid. My parents wanted an heir to take over their resort business and when they had me, they were very satisfied. They were hardly ever home. I lived with my grandpa in Brooklyn, but my parents hired tutors and business coaches to groom me into the perfect businessman. I would've been just like Tressler huh?" Jack said dryly.

"No Jack," Henley scolded, "You're different."

"Thanks Henley, but I really think I would've grown to be just as bad," Jack stated stubbornly. "However, my grandpa saw what the business did to his own son, and didn't want his only grandchild to suffer the same fate. So, he would send the tutors away secretly and instead raise me himself. My grandpa was a casino card dealer, and he's the one who taught me my first sleight of hand tricks."

"He sounds quite talented," Daniel remarked.

Jack smiled proudly and said, "Oh he was. He taught me everything. But when I was around 15, my parents found out. They were very furious and separated me from my grandpa. I lived alone in a suite of one of the resorts. They got me tutors and classes, but I refused to learn. So, they eventually gave up trying. I was glad; I thought they had accepted me for who I was." Jack took a breath before continuing, "But then, they stopped calling, writing, or even visiting me. All they did was send me blank checks every month. It got worse – I became bitter and got into fights every other day at school. But they still didn't care. You know what happened when they got called into the principal's office to discuss my behavior? They sent a representative! They sent a representative with a blank check addressed to the principal!" Jack waved his hands angrily.

Henley rubbed his back gently, "I'm sorry, Jack."

Jack nodded, "It's not your fault, Henley. Don't be sorry. Anyway, finally, I got sick and tired of it all. I ran away at 18, cliché as it is. I didn't take anything, didn't tell anyone, and just ran. I eventually found a job at a gas station in the middle of nowhere." Jack blinked his eyes and realized that he was starting to tear up, recalling all his childhood memories. Still, he held strong and continued, "My hate for my parents spread out to hate everyone. My grandpa raised me up all by himself and how did I repay him? I left, without a word. He called me three times every single day, and I let my cell phone ring every time."

"It's okay, Jack," Merritt comforted.

"No! It's not!" Jack cried aloud. "I haven't even gotten to the worst part yet. When I finally decided to answer my phone, it wasn't a call from my grandpa. It was a call from the hospital he was in. I found out that the only person who ever cared for me was dead. And his dying wish? He wanted the nurse to call his grandson. His ungrateful brat of a grandson," Jack remarked angrily.

Daniel got up and came back a few seconds later with a tissue box. Merritt went into the kitchen to bring back some hot chocolate for Jack. Henley just stayed where she was and held Jack in a hug.

It took Jack a few moments to collect himself, but he managed to continue his story. "I realized how immature and spiteful I was, and so I came back for my grandpa's funeral. It was awful," Jack took a deep breath, "My parents didn't even let me into the funeral. They said I killed him. A few days later, a lawyer calls me to tell me that my grandpa left every penny he owned to me, and I could claim it once I was 25," Jack looked up nervously at his teammates.

"Wow," Merritt commented quietly.

"I'm sorry for your loss, Jack. Really," Daniel said honestly. Daniel was not one for sympathy, but he could tell that Jack's grandpa meant a lot.

Henley wiped a few stray tears from her eyes. "Jack, thank you for tell us. I'm glad you trust us enough to open up."

"So, what did Dylan say to bring all this up?" Merritt wondered.

Jack nodded. He gulped some hot chocolate down before continuing, "Dylan said that my parents have been trying to look for me. They were furious about what you guys said –"

"I'm sorry!" Henley exclaimed guiltily.

"Yeah, my bad, Jack. They just made me so upset," Merritt justified.

"I might not have snapped at your parents, but I didn't exactly help the situation either," Daniel admitted.

"Oh, don't be sorry!" Jack laughed a little, "They deserve it. Trust me, I would've done a lot worse. But yeah – they called me to court. They're trying to get the money my grandpa left me."

"But they're rich," Henley responded, confused.

"They were. Ironically, Tressler bought the resort line from them. Let's just say they had to downsize a lot," Jack replied.

"So, to clarify," Daniel stated, "They are trying to get the money your grandpa left for you? It's a will so there shouldn't be any loopholes. I'd say it's more of a revenge plus possible bonus money scheme."

"What will happen if you don't go?" Henley asked. She wringed her hands nervously. "Court rooms get pretty serious, and I don't want you to have to go through that," she comforted.

"And I'm fairly certain the less you see of your parents, the better," Merritt reasoned.

"I don't know," Jack muttered. "Dylan said if I refuse to go, then they have a better chance of getting the money since there's no one to testify back."

The Horsemen sat in silence, thinking of what would be the best possible way to deal with the situation. It was now very late at night. Jack was emotionally exhausted. Henley, Daniel, and Merritt were actively thinking of any possible way they could help Jack.

Suddenly, Daniel stood up and said, "Jack, you should go to the court."

Jack looked up, surprised.

"Yeah, I think so too," Henley agreed. "We're not going to let your parents try and take your grandpa's hard earned money."

"And don't worry. Jack, you have the best lawyers the FBI can offer. We'll win the case. We'll dance circles around them," Merritt added confidently.

"Jack, you have the FBI. But most importantly, you have us. You always win with magic on your side," Daniel concluded.  
And for the first time since the bad news from Dylan, Jack smiled a full smile.


	28. Makeover

**Thanks for the superb reviews, follows, and favorites! I'm really tempted to make a chapter about Jack going into court with his family, but I said that I wouldn't write continuations. I'll have to think a little more on whether I want to continue that. **

**Anyways, this is a request from Miss Emeralds, where Henley gives one of her teammates a makeover. It is also a request from Lupin fan 1, Henley and Merritt bonding time.**

**Disclaimer: Don't own Now You See Me**

Makeover

It was the late afternoon and Merritt was in his room getting ready. Merritt pulled out his blue jeans and t-shirt. Merritt got dressed and looked in the mirror, and smiled at his reflection.

After deciding he looked his best, he left his bedroom and made his way quietly towards the front door.

However, standing at the front door were his three teammates, crossing their arms and looking at him suspiciously.

"Oh… hey guys," Merritt said as he rubbed the back of his neck.

"We're not your parents, Merritt. So you don't have to sneak out like this," Henley rolled her eyes.

"But, we heard some really happy humming going on in your room," Jack began.

"And it's creeping us all out," Daniel finished blatantly.

Henley punched Daniel in the arm. "No, it's not freaky. But we were wondering what had happened that would have Merritt humming and skipping through a field of daisies." Henley corrected.

Jack laughed, imaging Merritt skipping through a field of daises. "It's like you're love struck," Jack joked.

Merritt froze and then shifted his eyes everywhere else except the Horsemen, awkwardly laughing.

"NO WAY! WHO IS IT? WHO?" Henley demanded excitedly.

"We're laying low. How could you have met someone else besides us?" Daniel asked logically.

"It's me, obviously," Jack stated.

Henley ignored the other obnoxious guys and pressed again, "Come Merritt, you can tell us. Or at least me!"

Merritt realized he would never get to leave if he didn't answer them. Sighing, he said, "Alright, I'll tell you. While I was at the grocery store, I met this cute girl at check out. By the time the groceries were bagged, I asked her out on a date to the Japanese place in town. Which is tonight, hence why I am leaving."

"AW…" Henley cheered.

"Aw…" Jack mimicked Henley.

Henley now punched Jack in the arm but turned back to Merritt. "How come you didn't say so earlier? We could definitely give you advice!" Henley said.

"It's alright. I think I have everything under control," Merritt replied.

Henley shook his head, "Nonsense. We're going to make sure your date is a success. I'll give you a perfect makeover." Henley's eye got a predator-like glint.

Jack and Daniel's faces turned fearful and they slowly backed out of the room.

"See, I just remembered I have to… do yoga!" Jack excused himself and bolted out of the door.

Daniel shook his head at Jack's obviously fake excuse. "I actually have something to do. I'm going to work on some blueprints," Daniel stated and walked out of the room.

"Wow you guys. Way to be supportive of Merritt," Henley scolded.

"It's fine," Merritt assured. "Really, Henley, you don't have to do this. I may not fit Jack's skinny jeans, but I'm still smooth as ever. I still have some moves. And I'm a mentalist. I'll be able to charm her pants off no problem."

Henley rolled her eyes. "Please? You always help me in my romantic problems, so I want to help you in yours," Henley pouted.

Merritt always knew he had a soft spot for things like puppies and pouts. Especially when Henley put things that way. He sighed and nodded his head.

"Great!" Henley cheered. She began to pace back and forth and asked, "Okay, so when is your date?"

"About an hour. I was planning to get there a bit earlier so I was going to leave now," Merritt replied.

"Hm… an hour isn't that much time," Henley muttered, "But I can make it work. Have confidence in me, Merritt. I will make sure you look your best!" With that, she clasped her hands together and dragged Merritt to her bathroom.

Henley put the toilet seat cover down and instructed Merritt to sit down. "So, since you don't have much hair, we don't have to style any hair. Which saves us time, so it's a good thing that you're bald," Henley laughed.

"It's not bald, I choose to have it cut like this. On the contrary, I'd say this hairstyle makes me look sharp and professional," Merritt grinned. "Since my hair is fine, can I just go meet her now…"

Henley shook her head, "Nope. Look at your face. Look at that unwanted stubble! Did you shave?"

"No," Merritt admitted, "I was busy earlier and didn't get the chance. It's fine."

"No, it's not. You either have facial hair or you don't. For example, Jack doesn't and Danny does," Henley stated in a matter-of-fact tone.

Merritt looked at Henley and sighed, "Fine." He got up and went over to the guys' bathroom to shave. A little while later, Merritt returned to where Henley was. Merritt pointed to his cleanly shaved face for emphasis.

"Much better," Henley smiled, "So, let's do something about this." She pointed to his eyebrows.

"What's wrong with my eyebrows?" Merritt asked.

"They're just a bit bushy," she muttered. Henley dug through her toiletries and beauty products. She finally pulled out some tweezers and turned back to Merritt.

"Wait… Henley? What are those for…" Merritt began.

"Silly, you lived in a house with all girls and you've never seen tweezers before?" Henley laughed.

Daniel and Jack, who were elsewhere in the house, jumped from the sudden scream they heard from Henley's bathroom. They wanted to help Merritt, they really did, but judging by that scream, they didn't want to know what type of torture was going on.

Eventually the screaming died down as Henley plucked the last hair. "There," she smiled in satisfaction, "Perfectly plucked eyebrows."

Merritt looked at himself in the bathroom mirror. His eyebrows were shaped, but also very red. "Geez Henley, I think I'm swollen. It looks like a pressed a hot iron on my eyebrows," Merritt muttered. He touched his eyebrows gingerly.

"Oh stop overreacting," Henley replied. "Girls get their eyebrows done all the time. And besides, those caterpillars were just getting fatter."

"I'm just glad that's over," Merritt mumbled.

"Well, I mean, your nose hairs could use some work as well…" Henley trailed off.

And the screaming started up again.

Finally, Henley finished. Merritt made a notion to get up and run away, thinking that Henley was finally done.

But Henley pushed him back down, "Relax, no more plucking."

"Phew. Glad that's over. Henley, you could be a professional torturer or executioner," Merritt said.

Henley grinned, "But look how nice you look now!" She held Merritt's face with both her hands. "Hm, but a facial mask wouldn't hurt." She walked over to her make-up and pulled out a jar.

Merritt frowned, "What's that?"

"It's just to make your skin smooth and nice. I put it on like this," Henley said as she rubbed the cold cream against Merritt's face. "Then, we wait until it hardens and wash it off."

As the mask hardened, Merritt felt more and more uncomfortable. It was very difficult to move his facial muscles and Merritt couldn't talk. He wondered if this was what Botox felt like.

Henley held in her laughter as she watched Merritt try and move his facial muscles. "Alright, alright. We can wash it off now, so stop struggling," Henley assured.

Merritt sighed in relief when the mask was finally washed off. He said, "That stuff is awful."

"But feel your skin. Is it not baby-butt soft?" Henley teased.

Merritt smiled, "Whatever. Done now?"

"Not yet, there's a zit right there," Henley said as she pointed to the side of his face.

Merritt covered his face in defense. "Oh no, you are not popping my zit with those horrible tweezers," Merritt stated.

"Relax," Henley said, "I can't pop the zit or it might leave a scar. I'll just add a bit of concealer and no one will be able to see it."

"Concealer? As in paint concealer?" Merritt asked, confused.

Henley laughed, "Not for painting walls, but for painting your face I suppose. Don't worry, you big baby, it doesn't hurt." She brushed some powder onto Merritt's face.

Merritt rolled his eyes, "Okay, since my face is has been cleaned, shaved, plucked, and groomed – may I finally leave now?"

"But you're not done yet. We still have to do something about your outfit," Henley stated. She looked him over and immediately dragged him to his closet. "I don't understand why you dress so nicely for your performances, yet only wear tacky Hawaiian shirts and t-shirts all the other times of the day."

"Well, I figure that performances should be something I dress up for. It's not dressing up if I wear it everyday," Merritt explained.

Henley nodded, "I guess you have a point. But your outfit is too casual. It's a date, and girls put effort into their outfits, so you should put some effort in yours."

Before he knew it, Merritt had changed into another outfit. His t-shirt and jeans outfit were replaced. Merritt now wore blue jeans and a dark grey button up t-shirt.

Henley inspected him from afar, and then rolled up his sleeves to his elbows and left a few of the top buttons undone. She stepped back and inspected her work. "Hm… just needs a little flair to make it distinctly Merritt Mckinney," she muttered.

Merritt thought for a moment before going to his closet. He turned back to Henley a moment later and held up a fedora hat.

Henley saw the hat and nodded in excitement.

Merritt faced the mirror and slowly placed the hat on his head. He adjusted it slightly and smiled.

"Perfect!" Henley cheered. "You are now ready to, how did you put it, charm the pants off of your date." She winked.

Merritt chuckled, "Thanks Henley. Though you put me through hell and back, you really did make me look fantastic." He hugged Henley lightly.

"For you, anytime," Henley replied happily. "Now, go pick up your date. You have about fifteen minutes. Let me know how it goes when you get back alright?"

"Definitely," Merritt grinned.


	29. Camping

**I'm so sorry about not updating yesterday! As you might have noticed, I try to update once per weekday (except when I have no internet access). But yesterday I was completely exhausted after running a marathon. I hope you all will forgive me? :)**

**Aside from the author slacking, thanks for the sweet reviews, follows, and favorites! This chapter is the request of Miss Emeralds, where the Horsemen go camping. As you may recall, I went camping a little while ago. I won't spoil anything about this chapter, but I did experience what Merritt and Henley experienced near the end of this chapter during the night. **

**Disclaimer: Just like how I don't own Hansel and Grettle, I also don't own ****Now You See Me**

Camping

The Horsemen were currently all in the truck on their way to a campsite. Merritt was driving, Henley sat in the front, and Daniel and Jack were crammed in the back. They left early morning and now just pulled up to the campsite.

It was decided last minute, but they agreed that they should do something fun outdoors. Since a day at the beach was definitely not an option due to swimwear problems, Henley suggested that they all go camping.

With the approval of Dylan, the magicians packed their bags and left. The campsite that Dylan arranged was secluded, but still near by their house.

Merritt parked the car and the Horsemen got out. They removed all the gear and supplies from the back.

Jack grinned, "Ah… the great outdoors. I used to camp with my grandpa every weekend. "

"I use to go camping as well," Daniel offered.

The other Horsemen looked at him skeptically.

"What? Don't give me that look. My parents were busy with their jobs, but they made an effort to take us camping," Daniel exclaimed. Well, actually, his parents weren't very wealthy and they could only afford camping in the front yard. And even then, Daniel was only in charge of roasting the marshmallows with Grace. But still, Daniel wanted to take this opportunity to say he knew how to do something.

And it technically wasn't lying since he did actually go camping on real grass under real trees, Daniel confirmed to himself.

"I've never gone camping before. What's the first thing we should do then, troop leader?" Henley teased.

"Well, according to my experiences, pitching the tent is always a good place to start," Merritt suggested.

The Horsemen found a spot off on the side of the campsite and decided to set up their tents there. Their spot was just off the side of the lake and in the shade from the tall trees.

"Okay, we have two tents. So Henley can have one tent and I guess we are all sharing the other," Daniel stated authoritatively.

Jack and Merritt grumbled but didn't protest.

"How do I go about setting up a tent?" Henley asked. She had taken out all the parts to her blue tent and was staring at the diagram on the instructions.

"Why don't Daniel and Merritt work on this tent and Henley, I'll help you on yours," Jack suggested. He walked over to Henley's tent and started putting it up.

"Geez, can you believe Jack sometimes? Who decided that he was the boss?" Daniel complained as he placed the groundsheet down.

Merritt just shook his head. He sometimes wondered how Daniel made it this far in life. Merritt zipped the closed doors and windows. He began to assemble the poles and slip them through the sleeves of the tent. "Okay," Merritt stated, "there's a few more supplies in the truck. I'm going to bring them over, and you finish securing the last pole."

Daniel actually managed to set up the tent pretty well. He managed to have the tent almost completely set up and was securing the last pole.

Unfortunately, a huge gust of wind blew and took the tent.

Daniel tried to catch the tent. He gripped the pole and for a moment brought the tent back down. But the wind still swept the tent up and Daniel began to run around screaming.

Henley and Jack looked up in surprise to see a kite. But as they focused in, they realized it wasn't a kite but a tent. Their eyes followed the string to find that Daniel was apparently flying his tent like a kite on the stretched pole shock cord.

Henley began to laugh, "Daniel, we have a kite with us. You didn't have to use your tent."

"Very funny Henley," Daniel yelled back sarcastically. He continued to hold onto the pole and try and reel the tent back, but didn't succeed.

Henley and Jack had just finished setting up Henley's tent. They went over to try and help Daniel.

The wind picked up and a very strong gust knocked the pole out of Daniel's hands.

Daniel watched in horror as the tent drifted far away.

Merritt came back to the campsite and frowned, "Hey – where's our tent?"

Daniel pointed at the flying tent in the air.

Merritt groaned, "Aw… Daniel! Really? Let me guess, you wrestled against the wind, but alas, you have the arm strength of a daffodil and couldn't hold onto our precious tent?"

"It's alright. We can just all share this tent," Henley suggested. She really wanted to enjoy her first time camping, and she wasn't about to let a runaway tent ruin her trip.

The other Horsemen nodded in agreement. They unpacked the rest of their supplies and set up their sleeping bags.

"What should we do now that we have everything set up?" Henley asked.

"I guess we could spend the afternoon fishing," Jack replied.

And with that, the Horsemen got their fishing rods, rented a small boat, and set out to go fishing. Merritt rowed the boat to the center of the lake and Daniel passed out a fishing rod to each person.

"I can show you all how to do it," Daniel said proudly. "I don't mean to brag, but I once caught a 40 pound yellow fin tuna." He really wanted to redeem himself after the runaway tent problem.

Merritt rolled his eyes, "Okay big shot. We get it. Teach us."

"Attach the bate like this," Daniel demonstrated as he spoke, "then cast our line out and wait."

The other Horsemen followed Daniel's example. Then, they sat there idly.

"So…" Henley began, trying to strike up a conversation as they waited. "We've been together for quite some time now, yet I don't know how you guys decided to pursue a magic career. Why a magician?"

Jack played with the handle of his fishing rod. "Well, when I ran away from home, I worked at a gas station. My second job was just doing magic tricks and pick-pocketing, similar to what I did when I met you all," Jack informed.

"My story isn't that unique. Um… I learned easy magic tricks just off the internet because my sister loved them," Daniel explained. "And eventually, I decided to pursue magic as a career once my ideas for tricks started to go above and beyond the simple Internet illusions."

"I became a mentalist when I met a mentalist. I was so fascinated that he could predict my whole life without even knowing what he was. He decided to take me in as an apprentice and that's how I honed my skills," Merritt shrugged.

"What about you, Henley?" Jack asked, curiously.

"Oh… being an escape artist was just... a hobby…" Henley trailed off awkwardly.

Daniel could tell she didn't want to talk about it. She had never told him about it either. But Daniel figured she would when she wanted to. "It's alright Henley no need to tell us – HEY! I caught something!" Daniel began to reel in his fishing line.

The fish pulled, but Daniel pulled back. Eventually, Daniel flung the fish onto the boat. It was a modest sized Salmon, but their first catch as a team. Everyone cheered and Daniel smiled smugly.

The fish flopped for a while, and slowly stopped moving.

Henley brought her face really close to the fish. "Is it dead?" Henley questioned and she began to poke the slimy fish with her fishing pole.

Suddenly, the fish started moving and flopping around on the boat.

Henley shrieked and started jumping, "Ew! Ew! It's still alive!"

"Calm down Henley, you have to grab it by the tail –" Jack tried to explain.

"Ew! Get it off the boat! Get it away from me!" Henley yelled as she used her fishing rod to brush the fish off the boat. Eventually, she flung the fish off the boat back into the ocean.

"Wow Henley, way to send the fish back," Daniel said dryly.

"Shut up, Danny," Henley muttered. Her cheeks were slightly red from embarrassment. Henley had swam in the same tank as piranhas, yet she couldn't stand slimly fish out of water. She didn't really eat seafood either.

The Horsemen stayed out in the water for a while in hopes of catching another fish. But, their luck had run out and two hours later, they returned to shore.

By now, it was nighttime. The Horsemen gathered around the campsite and ate sandwiches they had prepared earlier. After dinner Henley brought out some graham crackers, marshmallows, and chocolate.

"Smores!" Jack cheered. He stuck marshmallows on a skewer and held them above the fire.

"Say, don't people usually tell ghost stories around a campfire?" Henley asked. She placed a marshmallow and chocolate chunk between two graham crackers and bit down happily.

Merritt nodded. "Sure. Anyone know a good story?" Merritt asked.

"I have one," Daniel replied. "A long time ago a family went camping in this very campsite. They were taking a midnight hike to look at the stars. However, they got lost and couldn't find their way back. They were really hungry, and the wife said to the husband, 'I really want some peanut butter jelly sandwiches.' The family died from starvation, but people say that you can still hear the family moan 'pppppeeeeeeeaaaaaannnnnuuuuuutttttttbbbbbuuuuuutt tttteeeeeerrrrrrrssssssaaaaaaaaannnnnnddddddddwwww wwwiiiiiiicccccchhhhhhhheeeeeessssssss..' all throughout the night."

The three Horsemen stared incredulously at Daniel and Daniel's story.

Merritt laughed, "Really Daniel? That's your horror ghost story?"

"Peanut butter sandwiches?" Jack asked skeptically.

"Merritt!" Henley scolded. She turned back to Daniel. "Don't worry Daniel, your story was… interesting," Henley finished lamely.

Daniel frowned. "You all clearly don't appreciate my story," Daniel replied angrily, "So I'm going to find someone who does!" And with that, Daniel stormed off and left the other Horsemen.

"Should we go after him?" Henley asked.

"No, he won't go far. He'll probably just cool his head and come back," Merritt assured.

But many hours passed and Daniel hadn't come back. The other Horsemen finished their smores and there was still no sign of Daniel.

"What should we do? Daniel's still not back," Henley said in a panicked voice. She lied on her sleeping bag and turned to her teammates in concern.

"Hm… we can't search for him in this hour. It's too dark, even with flashlights. We'd probably just get lost ourselves," Jack reasoned. He rubbed Henley's back soothingly.

"Our best bet is to search for him first thing in the morning," Merritt concluded. "For now, we should just get some rest." Merritt slipped inside his sleeping bag to get some sleep.

"Alright," Henley said dejectedly.

"I'm going to the bathroom," Jack grumbled. He slipped out of the tent and slugged over to the out house nearby.

Suddenly, a slow but loud and clear moan sounded.

Henley perked up when she heard the moaning. She elbowed Merritt. "Do you hear a moan?" Henley asked.

Merritt stayed silent and listened. He heard the moaning as well. "Maybe a moose somewhere is getting it on," Merritt mumbled. He slowly started to drift back to sleep.

Henley rolled her eyes at Merritt's comment. "What if it's the moaning ghosts from Daniel's story," Henley asked.

"Then you should tell them to pester someone else for peanut butter jelly sandwiches," Merritt muttered tiredly.

"This is serious Merritt! What if it's Daniel? Stuck somewhere… injured… needing help…" Henley worried.

"Relax Henley, there's no point trying to find Daniel when it's pitch black outside. We agreed to look for him first thing in the morning," Merritt reasoned.

"You're right," Henley sighed. She tried to fall back asleep, but the moaning continued.

Merritt also had a difficult time sleeping through the moans. He would toss and turn, but be unable to fall asleep.

It took Merritt and Henley a long time to realize what it was because they were all half awake. The moans continued steadily, reached their peak, and slowly died down.

And the whole time Merritt and Henley were laughing very hard when they realized what the moaning was.

Eventually Jack came back to the tent. "Did you hear that? I was trapped in the bathroom. I dare to leave," Jack shuddered.

"Good call," Merritt agreed. He could imagine Jack with his pants at his knees, sitting on the toilet and just waiting it out while a couple somewhere nearby was having sex.

After a few more minutes of laughing, the Horsemen, minus Daniel, finally fell asleep. The next morning, they woke up right away and quickly continued their search for Daniel.

Jack, Merritt, and Henley searched and searched all over the camping grounds, but couldn't find their annoying teammate.

"Where could he have possibly gone?" Jack exclaimed, frustrated.

"I don't know, but we have to keep looking," Henley said firmly.

"I'm hungry. Peanut butter sandwich..." Merritt complained.

Jack and Henley glared at him.

"Right, sorry. We're being serious here," Merritt mumbled.

The three continued to walk and walk.

Eventually, Jack spotted a house in the middle of the woods. "Maybe we could ask the owners of this house if they have seen Daniel?" Jack suggested.

"Why is there a house in the middle of nowhere?" Henley wondered aloud.

"Oh no. This is like Hansel and Gretel," Merritt stated. "We're going to go inside then next thing you know, we're being made into soup by a witch." Merritt turned around to leave.

Henley grabbed Merritt by the arm. "Come on, be serious Merritt." Henley pleaded. "Do it for Danny."

"Fine," Merritt caved.

They approached the house cautiously and knocked on the door.

"Coming," came a cheery female voice. There was the shifting of pots and pans inside the house.

"Hi," greeted an older lady. She looked about mid-seventies and was holding a tray of cookies.

"Hello m'am. We're sorry to bother you but we're looking for our friend and we were wondering if you possibly have seen him?" Jack explained politely.

"Hm… is your friend a boy with a sleepy bed head, slight beard, and about this tall?" the lady asked and held up her hand to indicate height.

"Yes!" Henley stated quickly. "Have you seen him?"

"Seen him? Goodness," the woman laughed. "He's right here." She moved aside and revealed Daniel sitting at the woman's kitchen table surrounded by desserts.

Daniel looked up when he noticed people at the door. He turned red when he found out it was his teammates. "Hey guys…" Daniel muttered sheepishly, crumbs coming out of his mouth. He was holding a half eaten cherry pie slice.

"Daniel!" Henley screeched. "We were worried sick and you have been here stuffing yourself with pastries?" She exclaimed in disbelief.

"Geez Daniel… gained some weight?" Jack teased and pointed at Daniel's stomach.

"Um…" Daniel paused awkwardly. "I guess I should explain. After I left you guys, I wandered a bit. I think I was lost. But then I found this house and I asked to stay the night."

Henley turned to the old woman, "We're very sorry about the trouble our friend has caused."

The woman grinned a little, "No worries. Honestly. He's been a great guest and I'm hoping he'll stay a while."

Merritt backed away slowly from the house, "Oh no. She's plumping you up. Daniel, you fool! She's going to eat you!" Merritt turned and ran back to the campsite.

"Goodness, your friend has a wide imagination," the woman laughed. She placed her cookies onto a plate and put the tray back into the oven. "Don't tell him the story about the peanut butter and jelly sandwiches or he might never come back."

"Yes, sorry about that," Henley said. "He's been on the edge." She didn't want to be rude to the stranger.

"Oh it's quite alright dear. Say, would you like some cake as well? I have plenty. I'm a… chef," the lady replied.

Jack jumped into a chair right away. "Sure!" he cheered.

Henley sat down cautiously, "Hm… I suppose." She felt that something was a bit off. After all, Merritt was a mentalist. He would be a good judge of character and if he ran out of there, then something might really be wrong.

"Good, good. I'll go make some tea," the lady replied. She went over to her kitchen. As the lady put her teapot on the stove, she glanced out the window and saw Merritt still running.

"Stupid boy," the lady muttered. "I suppose I'll just have to make sure that one of them lasts to dinner. Maybe the boy. He looks like he has some delicious muscle in him."

"What was that?" Henley asked from the kitchen table.

"Oh nothing," the lady replied quickly. She turned away so that the Horsemen wouldn't see her evil smile.


	30. Tan

**Thanks for the stupendous reviews, follows, and favorites! Honestly, I don't know what came over me when I wrote the end of the camping chapter. Maybe horror movies are getting to me?**

**Anyways, this chapter is a request from IrisGirl1402, where a Horsemen gets a sunburn. It is also the request of peanutbuttre7. I know you wanted a chapter where Henley is sick and Daniel takes care of her, but I was worried it would be too similar to a previous sickness chapter. I hope you don't mind, but this chapter still has the Daniel taking care of Henley aspect.**

**Disclaimer: Don't own ****Now You See Me**

Tan

The Horsemen were eating lunch at home on a normal afternoon. They were eating salads that Henley had prepared earlier. None of the Horsemen really had many plans today.

"Say," Merritt began. "I was reading a magazine, and did you know that apparently men prefer women that are more tan?"

"Really?" Henley responded in surprise.

"And women prefer men who are more tan?" Merritt added. He took another forkful of salad into his mouth.

"Hm…" Daniel replied.

"I mean, I guess it should be common sense right? After all, if you had to choose between the green strawberry and the red strawberry – you would choose the red strawberry," Jack said.

The other Horsemen looked at Jack in confusion.

"What does that have to do with anything?" Merritt asked his teammate.

The Horsemen spent the rest of their lunch arguing over strawberries and the insignificance to the information Merritt had brought up about tans. They finished eating, but still couldn't convince Jack that his analogy didn't make any sense.

After lunch, the Horsemen each went about doing their own things.

Henley returned to her room and sat on her bed. She didn't know that most men preferred women that were tan. She wondered if Daniel preferred tan women. Maybe if Henley were more golden brown, then she would already be together with Daniel.

And it was with that thought that Henley went outside to tan. She changed into a tank top and shorts and stepped out to the front yard. She found a spot directly below the sun. Then Henley sat herself down on the grass.

"Okay, I will tan like this about fifteen minutes and then rotate to get my back and repeat," Henley said to herself. She checked her watch and counted fifteen minutes after the current time.

Unfortunately, Henley lied on the grass and soon felt really tired. After all, she just ate and the easiest thing to do after eating is falling asleep.

And so within five minutes, Henley fell asleep on the soft grass of the front yard under the warm sun.

Unfortunately for Henley, her nap meant that she wouldn't rotate so that she would tan evenly.

Meanwhile, Daniel was in his room. He couldn't get over what Merritt had said about women preferring men that were tan. It made him wonder, not that her opinion mattered that much, but still wonder about whether Henley preferred tanned men. After all, she was together with that Spanish guy and the Australian guy, both of whom were nicely tanned.

It was then that Daniel decided to become tan. Then, maybe Henley and him would get together in the blink of an eye.

Daniel went into the bathroom and dug around Jack and Merritt's items. He searched and searched until he finally found what he was searching for.

Daniel found a self-tanning spray. He closed the bathroom door so that no one would see. He then took off his clothes and sprayed the tanner all over his body. Daniel looked at the bottle and saw that he had to wait about ten minutes before putting his clothes back on.

After ten minutes was over, Daniel smiled to his newly tanned self in the mirror and slipped his clothes back on. He left the bathroom and left to go on a jog outside.

Unfortunately for Daniel, he didn't read the label completely on the self-tanning spray. It said to avoid any excessive activity that would make a person sweat because if the tan hadn't set in, the sweat would cause streaking.

Daniel returned to the house and noticed Henley on the grass in the front yard. He didn't notice her when he left because he was so determined to go on his jog. However, he noticed her now and also saw that she was bright red.

"Henley!" Daniel yelled as he jogged up to where she was sleeping.

Henley mumbled something and opened her eyes, "Daniel?"

"Henley! What are you doing out here? Why are you bright red?" Daniel questioned.

"What? Oh I was… uh… See I was here just trying to build up a nice summer tan and I guess I fell asleep," Henley admitted sheepishly. She looked at her arms and gasped, "OH NO! I'M BRIGHT RED!" To her horror, she was as red as her hair.

Daniel laughed, "You got completely sunburned on your front side, Henley."

Henley huffed, "And what about you? What is going on with your skin?"

"What are you talking about? You mean my gorgeous new tan? Why – you like it?" Daniel grinned.

"Sure but I think you missed some spots, Danny. Your tan has streaks so it looks all patchy," Henley smiled. Daniel looked like a bronze candy-cane.

Daniel looked at his arms and legs and gasped, "WHAT?" To his horror, his skin was unevenly tanned.

"Come on," Henley said. "Let's just get inside and fix ourselves up before Merritt and Jack see us. Help me get to the house because when I move, I hurt."

Henley and Daniel walked inside the house and entered the living room.

"Okay, well, I think we should work on your sunburn first," Daniel stated.

"You're probably right," Henley complained. "Go into my bathroom and grab me my aloe bottle. Aloe is suppose to help with sunburns."

Daniel listened to Henley and grabbed her aloe bottle.

"Thanks," Henley replied. She took some aloe in her hand and began to rub it all over her body. "Ouch," she muttered. Every time she moved the sunburn would hurt.

"Here, let me do it," Daniel said and squirted some aloe in his hands. He helped Henley rub the aloe over her arms.

"Ah…thanks Danny," Henley grinned, blushing slightly from the skin contact.

Daniel helped Henley finish spreading aloe over her sunburns.

Henley sighed in relief now that the aloe was already cooling down her sunburns. "Okay, so what should we do with a streaky tan? How did you even get it anyways?" Henley said as she tried to hide her smile.

"I don't know. All I used was some self-tanning spray. It said to wait ten minutes before putting on clothes. After tanning, I went out for a jog. That's it," Daniel muttered.

"Danny," Henley laughed. "You can't sweat with a newly sprayed tan. The sweat from your jog must have messed up your tan."

"How can I fix it?" Daniel demanded.

"I think I read somewhere before that to fix your streaks, we can use lemon juice. All we have to do is wipe it over the streaks because the citric acid exfoliates and lightens your skin," Henley explained.

Daniel went over to the kitchen and squeezed some lemons. He collected the lemon juice in a bowl and brought it over. He also grabbed some cotton balls from the bathroom.

Daniel dipped the cotton balls in the lemon juice and began to rub it on his tan streaks. However, there were a lot of streaks and Daniel felt overwhelmed by all the uneven patches on his skin.

"Let me help you now," Henley said as she took a cotton ball and started to even out his streaks. The aloe eased some of her sunburn pain and she could move a little without it hurting her too much.

"Thanks," Daniel mumbled.

The two rubbed the cotton balls on Daniel's streaks for a while in silence.

Henley disrupted the silence after a while and closed her eyes. She asked timidly, "Say, Danny. What made you decide to tan all of a sudden? Got a girl to impress?" Daniel didn't answer for a while and Henley peaked an eye open to look at him.

"Actually, yeah. I do," Daniel answered, smiling a little.

Henley frowned, "Oh, I see. So you heard Merritt say that women preferred tan men and just had to go and tan yourself for her, right?"

"Well, that depends," Daniel grinned. "Do you like tan men?"

"Personally, I don't care whether a man is tan or not. But that's not the point because you tanned yourself to impress – oh," Henley understood what Daniel meant and blushed.

"Then… can I take it you were trying to impress me?" Daniel asked, somewhat arrogantly.

Henley didn't say anything, but shoved him lightly and looked away.

The two smiled at each other in silence. Turns out, both of them were trying to impress the other, without even asking if the other liked tans. And then they both realized that they were foolishly trying to change each other, when they both liked each other just the way they were.

Suddenly they heard footsteps and coughed awkwardly.

"Hey guys! So it turns out that study I told you about was total bogus. There's no real trend on what men or women prefer in terms of tans. But I mean really, who would believe that tans make a person like you more?" Merritt shrugged as he walked in.

Merritt then saw the bright red, sun burnt Henley and the awkwardly streaked Daniel. He wanted to laugh, but saw their murderous looks. "Just kidding... ha... ha...ha..." Merritt said quietly. He quickly turned and ran the opposite direction.


	31. Competition

**Thanks for the generous reviews, follows, and favorites. 200 REVIEWS - can I just go and cry about how wonderful you all are? **

**This request is from Who, bonding between Jack and Merritt. It is also the request of Miss Emeralds, where a Horsemen finds out about Jack's singing ability. And it is the request of NYSM 1 Fan, where Merritt and Jack compete together in a father and son competition. **

**Disclaimer: Don't own Now You See Me**

Competition

Merritt whistled as he walked through the parking lot of the fast food place. He was buying dinner because everyone was too lazy to cook. He reached the truck and was about to start driving when he heard some voices in the car next to his.

"Dad, when are we going to Italy like you promised?" the son asked.

"Once we win the trip from the annual Father and Son Competition they hold in this town," the father replied.

Merritt stifled a laugh. What made them so sure they were going to win, Merritt wondered.

"But what if we don't win?" the son teased. He elbowed his father.

The father laughed, "Don't be ridiculous. If there's even a hint of a threat, we can count on good old Ben Franklin to pull through." For emphasis, the father pulled out his wallet and displayed five hundred dollar bills to his son.

Merritt couldn't believe he had to face another group of obnoxious rich people. As if there weren't already enough in the world. Usually, he could ignore them, but when they mentioned bribery, Merritt couldn't control himself.

Merritt got out of the car and approached the father and son. "Hey! Just because you can roll around in money doesn't mean you can use your wealth to buy you victory," Merritt scolded.

"Excuse me? Who are you?" the father rolled his eyes.

"A nobody, I'm assuming," the son added arrogantly.

"Please, that excuse won't work on me. I'm definitely ten times more famous than you," Merritt snapped. "I don't mean any trouble, but bribing your way to first place in anything isn't okay. Especially because you sir, are the father, and you are teaching your son that dirty tricks are to be used to succeed."

The father scoffed, "Listen here, you don't get to insult my parenting in front of my son. If anything, I'm teaching him to use all his assets and skills."

"What skills?" Merritt exclaimed while throwing his hands up in disbelief.

"I'd like to see you practice what you preach," the son smirked.

"Gladly," Merritt said with a competitive glint in his eye. "If I win first place in the Father and Son Competition you'll admit that you bribed the judges all these years."

"And if you lose," the father paused. "You get down on your knees and apologize to me and my son in front of everyone."

Merritt glared, "I accept your challenge."

"Good, see you at the competition. Oh – I hope you know it's tomorrow? But other than that… good luck," the father laughed. He got into his car and drove off.

Merritt sped home and slammed the door shut. "GUYS! I NEED A SON!" Merritt yelled. "WHO CAN GET ME A SON BY TOMORROW?"

"Whoa, what's going on Merritt?" Henley laughed at Merritt's sudden urgency for a male offspring. Henley was sitting on the couch watching a romantic movie, but paused it to talk to Merritt.

"Merritt wants to be a father? This is a first. What happened to Mr. Independent? No strings attached? Riding solo?" Daniel teased. He came into the living room where Merritt was standing and Henley was on the couch.

First Merritt passed out the fast food he bought so that the Horsemen could eat dinner. Merritt then took a deep breath and explained what had happened at the fast food parking lot.

"So you see, that's why I need a son to participate in the Father and Son Competition," Merritt finished.

"Why would you agree when you don't even have a son?" Henley asked.

"I don't know. I just was so mad at them that I jumped at the chance to prove them wrong," Merritt tried to explain. Usually, Merritt was fairly calm and often didn't let people push him around. Merritt supposed that anything involving rich people as despicable as Jack's parents just immediately pushed a button in his normally rational self.

"Well, I'm not a boy," Henley replied, "So I can't help you. How about Jack or Daniel? They're both younger than you."

"Hm… alright. What do you say, Jack? Be my son?" Merritt asked Jack, a hopeful look in his eye.

"Hey! Why didn't you consider me? Not that I would ever want to be your son of course, but it is offensive that I was eliminated so quickly," Daniel muttered.

Jack grinned at Daniel's reaction and turned back to Merritt, "Sure. I'd love to knock some sense into people similar to my parents."

"Alright!" Merritt cheered. "You can be Jack Mckinney!" Merritt wasn't really into serious relationships, but he always wanted someone similar to a son.

Jack was about to protest about the last name situation, but saw how happy Merritt was and decided to brush it off. "I'm glad I'm so wanted," Jack joked. "Do I need to do anything in preparation?" he asked Merritt.

Merritt turned around and pulled out two shirts. He said, "Let's decorate ourselves some team shirts! Even Daniel and Henley can make a shirt. I have tie-dye and even rhinestones. I know what you all are thinking – these are going to be so ridiculously gaudy. But I'm thinking that if we make the shirts distracting enough, they might cause enough people to vote for us because we will be the center of attention."

Jack laughed. It seemed that the competitiveness was getting to Merritt in some weird way. Who had ever heard of using ugly shirts to draw out pity from everyone?

Nevertheless, the Horsemen worked on their shirts all night.

The next morning all four of the Horsemen drove to town. Merritt and Jack were competing, but Merritt had specifically asked Daniel and Henley to come and cheer them on. And they all wore their tie-dyed, besparkled t-shirts that said TEAM HORSEMEN on them.

"A bigger fan base intimidates other competitors," Merritt had explained.

They arrived just in time. Jack and Merritt walked over to the registration desk and signed their names up on the sheet. They wrote themselves name tags and got up on the stage.

Henley and Daniel walked over to the chairs that had been set up for the audience. They managed to find two seats in the very front row and sat down. Then, much to their embarrassment, they pulled out all the fan gear that Merritt had prepared for them. This meant that the two magicians were in charge of waving the huge flag that said MERRITT AND JACK, with Merritt and Jack's faces on it. It also meant blowing the air horn every time Merritt and Jack competed. And also required that they yell through a megaphone when chanting their teammates names.

Henley and Daniel wondered how Merritt was during a sports game.

"Welcome everyone to the annual Father and Son Competition!" the announcer yelled with enthusiasm. "We're pleased to welcome all the father and son pairs that have signed up to participate. This year's grand prize is… a trip to Italy!"

Everyone in the audience cheered.

After announcing the sponsors and explaining the rules, the announcer presented the first event. There would be a total of three events and the team that scores the most points overall would win first place. The first event was cheese rolling. A cheese wheel would roll down a steep hill and each team must be able to get their cheese wheel. All the competitors would compete but only one teammate had to get the cheese wheel. The points are determined based how fast a team catches their cheese wheel.

All the teams lined up behind the starting line on the top of the hill. They got down in ready position as the announcer began the count down.

"Ready my fathers and sons? 3… 2… 1… GO!" the announcer screamed and waved his flag.

Jack and Merritt began running after their cheese ball. However, as they ran, they found it difficult to bypass the other competitors.  
"We need a plan!" Merritt yelled to Jack as he ran after his cheese wheel. Merritt shoved some guy who was blocking his way.

"There's just to many people! We're all running like a stampede of elephants!" Jack exclaimed, annoyed at all the people in his way.

Meanwhile back in the audience, Daniel and Henley were trying to cheer for their teammates.

"GO TEAM HORSEMEN!" Henley cheered.

"Yay," Daniel cheered as he waved the flag weakly.

"Come on Daniel, be more enthusiastic," Henley scolded. She pressed on the air horn and waved the giant flag. "GO MERRITT! GO JACK! CRUSH THOSE WUSSIES!" Henley cheered from the audience. She was really starting to get the hang of cheering.

Everyone in the audience turned to stare at the two audience members.

"That's my husband and son right there," one lady muttered.

"Well," Henley turned to face the lady. "YOUR SON IS A WUSSY!"

Back at the race, Merritt and Jack needed to find a way to get ahead of the stampede so that they could catch their cheese wheel.

Merritt thought for a moment, "I've got it!"

Jack smiled at Merritt's sudden light bulb moment. "One step ahead of you. You throw, I'll grab?" he questioned.

Jack nodded.

The audience watched in surprise as Merritt picked up Jack and threw him above the heads of the other competitors. Jack flew like a bird for about two seconds, landed on his feet, and continued to run.

Because Jack was now ahead of everyone else, he was able to grab his cheese wheel. He held up the wheel in triumph as he crossed the finish line.

Merritt crossed a little while after along with the other competitors. He ran over to where Jack was and gave his teammate a high five.

The results were posted on a bulletin board. Merritt and Jack managed to win the most points for the cheese wheel event.

"YESSSSSSSSSS!" Henley cheered in the distance. She waved the flag so victoriously and proudly that it accidentally hit an audience member behind her.

"Sorry," Henley muttered sheepishly. She turned back to Daniel, who was smiling.

Merritt ruffled Jack's hair proudly. "Nice going, my son," Merritt winked.

"I see you didn't chicken out," came a voice from behind.

Merritt turned around, and to his dread, saw the father and son from the parking lot the other day. "Oh, it's you," Merritt muttered.

Jack held out his hand, "I'm Jack… Mckinney. His son."

The father ignored Jack's hand and stared hard at Jack. "Doesn't really look like you," he said to Merritt suspiciously.

Merritt pushed Jack's hand back down. "So what? At least he's attractive unlike some other people's sons," Merritt snapped. Here, he made a point to look at the father's son.

"Well, I wouldn't be so cocky if I were you. You may have won, but we got second place," the son smirked and pointed on the board.

"That's not possible," Jack stated. "You fell over and as a result, got slowed down. It'd be impossible to be second place."

The father laughed, "Your son is as clueless as you. Ever hear of a saying: money talks? We just used a little cash to buy ourselves a cheese wheel that looked the same as the one in the race and just ran to the finish line."

And with that, the father and son walked away laughing.

Jack frowned when he noticed how similar the father and son acted like his parents. "Let's crush their snobby, rich butts," Jack muttered darkly.

Merritt grinned. Sometimes, he really saw himself in Jack. In this case, Merritt saw his own competitiveness.

A while later, the announcer called all the teams back together. He explained the next event, which was the water balloon toss. Each team would get a water balloon and have to throw it back and forth, taking a step back every time a successful pass happens. If the water balloon breaks, then the team is out. The team that lasts the longest wins the most points.

The teams gathered in a line, one person on each side, and received a water balloon. The announcer started the competition, and each time the announcer said "throw" then one person would throw the water balloon.

Jack and Merritt were doing pretty well. As some teams dropped their water balloons or soaked their partners, Jack and Merritt remained steady.

"COME ON MERRITT AND JACK! YOU TWO CAN DO IT! WE BELIEVE IN YOU, RIGHT DANIEL?" Henley shouted through the megaphone.

Daniel liked Henley, he really did. But this was a side he hadn't seen before. She looked like a mother at a soccer game, cheering from the top of her lungs for her sons. Daniel really did want Merritt and Jack to win, however, he just wasn't the type to yell in his loudest voice possible.

Yet Daniel found himself being subject to all the stares and glares that Henley was receiving. Henley didn't care about any of the glares she received as she cheered and so the people glaring, whom didn't want their glares to go unnoticed, resorted to staring at Daniel.

Daniel sighed. He'd learn to love this part of Henley too. Eventually.

Back at the water balloon toss, Merritt and Jack were one of the last three teams still standing. They stood a healthy chance of winning the most points again.

Unfortunately, the father and son also noticed that Merritt and Jack were close to wining.

Before the announcer called "throw" again, the father slipped the other team a hundred dollar bill to forfeit. The team eagerly agreed and just dropped their water balloon on the floor.

It was now between Merritt and Jack, and the father and son.

"You're going to drop the balloon before us, so might as well give up now," the son said to Merritt and Jack.

"In your snotty dreams," Jack snorted. "Merritt and I have been consistent all this time. You two, on the other hand, have just been lucky. I've seen your form and honestly, it's blatantly obvious that neither of you has ever even thrown a baseball."

The father and son glared hard at Jack.

Jack shrugged, "I only point out the truth."

"Preach," Merritt laughed. He threw the water balloon back to Jack.

The father grinned deviously, "Well, so do I. You want to know the truth? The truth is that I paid someone to dig a ditch behind your father. A few more steps and he'll fall into the ditch and hurt himself."

Jack panicked and looked past Merritt. Sure enough, there was a ditch covered lamely by some twigs. "Merritt, we have to stop. You'll get hurt," Jack said. "Nonsense," Merritt replied. He could tell that the father wasn't lying about a ditch behind him, but Merritt didn't want to forfeit the competition. He supposed getting hurt would be a small price to pay to serve some justice to that snotty father and son.

But Jack wasn't having any of it. When Jack caught the balloon, Jack dropped it in front of him. That way, Merritt wouldn't fall into the ditch. Merritt and Jack lost to the father and son.

The father smirked at Merritt, "Told you."

The bulletin board displayed the results for this round. Merritt and Jack had gotten second place, which wasn't bad either. The board also showed the overall scores, and Merritt and Jack were still in the lead by two points. The father and son were in second place overall.

After giving the competitors time to dry off if they got wet, the teams were gathered together for the final round.

"And the last event we have here today is," the announcer paused for dramatic effect. "Air guitar! Each team will have ten minutes to prepare a performance that includes air guitar and singing from both people."

Once the announcer started the timer, Jack and Merritt began to discuss what they would do.

"What song should we pick?" Jack asked.

"Let's use something so popular that everyone in the audience will want to get up and air guitar with us. Don't Stop Believin?" Merritt suggested.

"Okay," Jack nodded. "Should we just run through the lyrics really quick so we don't forget them?"

Merritt nodded. "Now, Jack, I don't want you to get discouraged if you feel you're not as good of a singer as I am. Just have confidence and sing to the best of your ability," Merritt said.

Jack smiled, "No problem. As long as you carry the lead, I'll support you from behind." Jack knew Merritt's voice wasn't good, but he saw how happy Merritt was to be singing in front of an audience. If anything, they could spare a few points and still win, Jack thought.

The two made air guitars and sang. Merritt sang the lyrics, but Jack also harmonized.

"Wow, is there a cat dying here?" the father laughed. He walked over with his son.

"Excuse me?" Merritt asked.

"Your voice is horrible," the son laughed. "Jack has somewhat talent, but you, are like scratching nails on a chalkboard."

Merritt glared, but his face showed uncertainty.

"We'll win for sure. My son happens to be an a capella singer," the father said arrogantly. "Let's go and warm up our voices."

The son nodded and the two left Merritt and Jack.

"This is an air guitar event. Voices aren't being tested in this competition. How does singing a capella even help?" Jack joked. He laughed loudly, but quieted down when he noticed Merritt's change in mood.

Merritt didn't laugh, "Is it true that my voice isn't good?"

"No... I mean… Merritt, look. It's not the greatest voice, but it's not bad," Jack finished. He didn't want to lie to Merritt.

Merritt wasn't convinced, "Jack, maybe you should sing the lyrics." Merritt looked down at his shoes.

"But I know how much you like to sing," Jack stated firmly.

"It's alright, Jack. I've heard you in the shower before. Don't try to deny it, and thank you for not saying anything about your talent. You're the one with the amazing voice and with that voice, we'll beat those snobby neighbors," Merritt said with an attempted smile. He turned away and practiced his air guitar movements.

Jack wasn't convinced, but didn't say anything else.

Soon, it was time for the competition's last event. Jack and Merritt were up last. All the teams performed, but no one else performed the same song.

Finally, it was time for Jack and Merritt to perform. They got up on the stage. Jack and Merritt each got a microphone and the two held up their hands in air guitar position.

"ROCK OUR WORLD JACK AND MERRITT!" Henley exclaimed from the stands.

Unfortunately, someone was so upset with Henley's cheering that they called the competition patrol. The competition patrol came over to Henley and asked her to leave.

"EXCUSE ME? MY FRIENDS ARE PERFORMING AND YOU ARE ASKING ME TO GO?" Henley demanded.

"M'am. You are causing a disturbance to the rest of the audience and so we have to follow rules and ask you to leave –" the patrol began.

"WHICH ONE OF YOU WUSSIES WAS IT?" Henley demanded. "WHO RATTED ME OUT BECAUSE THEY COULDN'T HANDLE MY PASSION FOR TEAM HORSEMEN?"

The patrol sighed at began to drag Henley away.

"Hey! You can't take her away like that!" Daniel said as he got up from his seat.

"Sir, if you try and stop us, we will have to remove you as well," the patrol stated, annoyed.

"You are not taking away my friend here as long as I have something to say about it," Daniel stated calmly.

And sure enough, the both of them got taken away from the competition audience.

"Thanks for trying, Danny," Henley smiled.

"Anything for you," Daniel sighed.

Back at the competition, the music began to play. However, when the lyrics were supposed to start, there wasn't any singing. The audience muttered in confusion.

What Merritt didn't know was that Jack was mouthing on purpose so that it would look like nothing was coming out. His microphone was perfectly fine.

Merritt looked at Jack in question. "What's wrong?" Merritt whispered.

"I think my microphone is broken," Jack replied. To emphasize, he sang into the microphone and nothing came out. "You have to sing Merritt," Jack said.

"What? Me? No, my voice is no good," Merritt answered.

"Someone has to sing!" Jack whispered back.

After a few more moments, Merritt opened his mouth and began to sing. After a while, Merritt began to forget his hesitancy about singing and began to rock out with his air guitar.

Once Merritt was in his jamming mode, Jack began to add some harmonies.

It was true that his singing wasn't the best, but it was okay. The crowd, though initially embarrassed for Merritt, saw how happy he was up on stage and began to clap along.

Even Henley and Daniel could hear the singing and they two sang along from the sidelines near the patrols.

The song finished. Jack and Merritt took a bow and waved to the audience. They returned to the team lineup for the final results.

"It was a very close race," the announcer stated dramatically. "But alas, we have a winner. I'm proud to announce that Merritt and Jack, Team Horsemen, wins by one point!"

Jack and Merritt gasped in surprise. They jumped up and down and hugged each other.

"WHAT?" the father fumed. "HOW IS IT POSSIBLE? THIS IS AN OUTRAGE."

The announcer ignored him and went over to Merritt and Jack. "Congratulations Jack and Merritt..." he paused, not knowing their last name.

"Mckinney," Jack finished proudly.

"I DON'T UNDERSTAND. THIS IS THE FIRST TIME THEY PARTICIPATED. THERE'S NO WAY THEY COULD WIN. IN FACT, THEY DON'T EVEN LOOK LIKE FATHER AND SON. I BET THEY AREN'T! WHERE'S YOUR PROOF?" the father demanded.

Jack and Merritt looked at each other. If they drew too much attention to themselves, they might be exposed. The audience was completely silent.

"Well," Merritt said quietly. "the truth is that Jack isn't my son. I'm not even married. But Jack isn't any stranger. He's practically my family and I wanted to participate in the competition with him."

"AW...HOW SENTIMENTAL. NOW GIVE BACK YOUR PRIZE!" the father cackled. The son came over and snatched the prize away.

Merritt sighed, "It was still fun, Jack."

Jack grinned, "Yeah, definitely."

The father came over and turned his microphone off before saying, "See, I won. Now you have to get on your knees and beg. And no one will know that I cheated with money."

The audience gasped. Turns out that the father's microphone was actually still on.

Not a moment later, the patrols came and took the father away. The son trailed helplessly behind.

Jack and Merritt looked at each other and smiled. They held their first place trophy up high and walked down the steps of the stage, with the crowd cheering them on.

"Hi? Jack and Merritt?" a woman asked as she approached them.

"Yes. That would be us!" Jack exclaimed proudly.

"Did you want an autograph? Of course you can," Merritt said.

"Um… no. I'm a patrol person here. Your friends Daniel and Henley have been held under patrol personal due to overly rambunctious behavior and you need to pick them up," the woman explained.

"Aw man," Jack groaned. "Leave it to those two to get arrested just as we won a trip to Italy."

"Maybe we could just leave them there. That way, we could go to Italy by ourselves," Merritt laughed.


	32. Paint

**Thanks for the benevolent reviews, follows, and favorites! This chapter is a request from Kipper, in which Merritt shows the gang how good he is at art. **

**Disclaimer: Don't own ****Now You See Me**

Paint 

"I think we should paint the walls of this house over, " Jack said aloud one day. He turned off the TV and leaned against the back of the couch to face his fellow Horsemen.

Henley thought a moment and smiled. "That seems reasonable. Many parts of the paint on the walls in all the rooms have been worn out. And I would love to get rid of the gaudy yellow color in my room."

"Sounds good to me," Merritt agreed. His head was stuck in the fridge in search of food. Sighing dramatically, he pulled a beer out and closed the fridge. "Why is our fridge always empty?"

"Stay on topic Merritt!" Jack exclaimed. "I think we should all head out and buy some paint to redo all the walls of the house."

"But what about Danny?" Henley asked. "He was up late and is still sleeping. Should we leave a note?"

"Don't worry guys! I got it," Merritt replied, already going to get a piece of paper and a pen. As Henley and Jack got changed, Merritt wrote:

**Oh Beloved Danny,**

** We have departed to inquire about some pigment to adorn the enclosures of this humble abode. Til' we return, my love. **

** XOXO**

** Merritt **

"Did you leave a note?" Henley asked Merritt as she grabbed her purse and keys. Jack followed behind, pausing only to admire himself in the mirror next to the front door.

"Yup. Let's go," Merritt grinned.

And so, the three Horsemen taped the note onto the front door and headed out.

When they returned, the found Daniel reading a magazine in the couch. He heard the door close and looked up. Without getting up, he said, "Wow guys. Way to leave a member behind. What happened to best friends forever? Or as Merritt would put it – lovers for life?"

Merritt laughed at both Daniel's frustrated tone and Henley and Jack's confused looks. "I love you too Danny."

"Affections aside," Daniel replied, deciding that just this once, it was okay for his group to leave him behind since they were being considerate, "What colors did you get for our humble abode?"

Jack brought over the buckets of paint they had picked up. Daniel came up from the couch and looked at the labels in shock and horror. His temple began to throb as he saw colors include Chartreuse, Papaya Whip, Deep Pink, Transparent, Peach Puff, Dark Slate Grey, Light Sky Blue, Cadet Blue, Azure, Bisque, Dark Golden Rod, etc.

"No, no, no. This is all wrong!" Daniel groaned. "What kind of colors are these? And what color is Transparent? How can that even exist? I don't understand why you didn't bother to buy any white."

Henley rolled her eyes. "Calm down Danny. White is boring, so we wanted some variety and some fun."

Daniel turned to Henley, "The house should look presentable. And white is most definitely presentable. White is classy, simple, clean, elegant. It matches with everything and –"

Henley covered Daniel's mouth with her hand and groaned. "Alright. We'll do it your way." She pulled the receipt, which had the paint store address, out of her purse and gave it to Daniel. "But this time, you're going out to buy the paint. I don't want to deal with your whining anymore."

Satisfied, Daniel brushed past Merritt and Jack and head out the door to buy some paint.

After Daniel had gotten to the paint store, he found himself amazed by the many shades of white. Glancing with a careful eye, he settled on the Snow White and quickly paid for the bucket of paint. Proudly, he put the paint into the trunk of the car and began to drive home.

When he returned, Daniel opened the front door to find himself face to face with a paint-splattered house. And the culprits – his three partners equally as paint-splattered. J. Daniel Atlas was thoroughly, royally pissed.

"I thought. We agreed. On white," Daniel ground out carefully. He set his bucket of Snow White on the table.

Henley laughed, not bothering to hide the paintbrush in her hand. "No Danny. YOU agreed to white."

Jack grinned as he wiped some paint from his eyes. "We just added some constructive feedback."

Merritt began walking towards Daniel. "I think this is where my hypnosis comes in handy? It looks like you could use some help calming down"

"No no no. Get away from me you creeper mentalist. Get away from me," Daniel said as he ducked under and around Merritt's big arm. "White is obviously the best choice. Even the White House is white! It doesn't need stains of purple, green, yellow, red, and every other color a rainbow could barf out!" Daniel exclaimed as he pointed to the wall.

Jack held his hands up defensively. "Whoa there. We didn't just randomly splat paint everywhere. That was just at the end of our little painting project. We drew stuff too!"

"Turns out, Merritt is a great artist! He taught Jack and I how to paint all these wonderful things," Henley said proudly as she pointed to the walls.

"Who would have thought that Merritt could paint?" Jack grinned.

Merritt pointed to the wall the TV was on. "I drew this lovely sunset and beach babe in a bikini."

Daniel looked at the painting and he had to admit, Merritt's work was incredible. The girl in the bikini looked so real it was almost scary. But the sunset was so vivid and compelling, not that Daniel would ever admit that to Merritt.

Henley pointed to the kitchen. "Look at what I painted! Merritt taught me and then I drew the rest by myself. I drew food on the kitchen wall, so that we'd always have food in our kitchen."

"And I drew magic symbols all over the house!" Jack stated proudly. "Merritt showed me how to draw as well. See, there's the Eye, our Horsemen symbol, and different cards from a playing deck."

Daniel sighed, "Though your voice is a whole other story, your artwork talent is very nice. However, we need to have a serious discussion about decisions as a group." He walked towards his room as the other three Horsemen laughed at his tired and strained reaction.

A few minutes later, they heard an angry door slam and Daniel's yelling. "WHY IS THERE A PENIUS DRAWN IN MY ROOM?!"

Henley almost fell out of the kitchen chair from laughter. "So that's what you guys did in his room?"

Jack and Merritt grinned. "We signed it, too."


	33. Cole Wilder

**Thanks for the thoughtful reviews, follows, and favorites! This chapter is from Dance4life, where Jack has an identical twin. So, when thinking of a twin for Jack, I modeled him after Cole Aaronson from Scrubs, a TV comedy series. (I think it was Season 9?) Anyways, Cole is played by Dave Franco as well! I even included some quotes from Cole during the show.**

**Sorry! I was suppose to put this up yesterday, but I forgot. So today, there will be this chapter and also one more later on. Yay for double chapters!**

**Disclaimer: Don't own Cole Aaronson from ****Scrubs**** or Jack Wilder from ****Now You See Me**

Cole Wilder

Henley was idly waiting in line at a clothing store. As she waited, she held the jacket up by the shoulders and examined it again. Henley wanted to find a jacket to match her new dark purple gloves, and finally found one that seemed to suit the gloves. Deciding her purchase was going to be worth it, she put it back against her arm and smiled.

As she looked at the other people in line, she noticed that one of them looked a lot like Jack. She stared a little harder, but he still looked like the back of Jack.

She wondered why Jack didn't tell her he went out. And she especially wondered how Jack could've gotten to town when Henley took the truck without him in it. "Jack!" Henley called out.

The man didn't turn around. He was currently at the cashier paying for a tie. The man said something to the cashier and began to leave the store.

Henley, without thinking, got out of the line to pay and tried to catch up to the man. She set her purple jacket on a pile of clothes nearby and began to speed walk. "Jack – it's Henley! Hey!" she shouted.

Finally, Henley caught up. She grabbed the man's arm and spun him around.

"Hey Jack, I've been calling you this whole time! Why didn't you turn around?" Henley asked.

"Well hello to you to, pretty lady," the man smirked. "I don't know who this Jack you speak of is. But my name is Cole."

Henley laughed awkwardly, "What do you mean? Your name is Jack." The man sure looked like Jack, well, except maybe the clothing style. He wore name brand everything head to toe.

"No, my name is Cole. You should remember that. Perhaps I should give you my number too," the man added smoothly. He put his arm around Henley.

Henley slipped out of his grasp. "Is this a joke? Oh, you're serious. Um… yeah," Henley scratched her head. "I'm sorry, this is awkward. I suppose I mistook you for someone else. Even though the two of you look practically the same." Henley laughed. "Maybe you're Jack's twin," she joked.

Cole looked at her in surprise, "Actually, I do have a twin. His name happens to be Jack in surprise. Of course, we haven't seen each other in a long time. If your Jack is the same as my Jack – that'd be redonkulous!"

Henley blinked in shock. "How about you meet Jack? Maybe he's your long lost twin!" she exclaimed excitedly.

"Sure," Cole smiled. "Maybe we could have dinner together as well? Come on babe, take a ride on the Cole train."

"Okay, you can eat with everyone too," Henley replied without missing a beat.

Cole frowned. He wondered why this girl was so immune to his devilishly handsome good looks and charm. Still, he decided to follow her because he was curious whether the girl knew his twin brother.

And so, Henley brought home a man. Granted, it's not the best to bring home a complete stranger. However, the man seriously resembled an exact copy of Jack and Henley was very determined to find out why.

"I'm home! And I have a guest so behave everyone!" Henley shouted. She led Cole into the kitchen, where Merritt was making tacos for dinner.

Merritt glanced at Henley, still cooking, and frowned, "I thought Jack was in his room."

"Apparently, this is Jack's twin," Henley stated. She pointed to Cole.

"Ha, ha, very funny. Seriously," Merritt said sarcastically.

Just as Henley was about to reply, Jack walked into the kitchen while saying, "Hey Merritt, are the tacos ready –" Jack froze when he saw Cole.

Cole, on the other hand, grinned widely, "Shtoops! Is it really you, Jacky?"

Jack ignored him and turned to Henley and Merritt, "Alright, which one of you brought this loser home?"

"Come on, that isn't any way to treat your broseph is it?" Cole said cheekily.

"I can't believe it, Henley was right?" Merritt exclaimed in disbelief.

Jack gritted his teeth and repeated, "Why is Cole here?"

Henley took a deep breath and explained, "I was in a clothing store and thought that he was you. So I talked to him and he said he had a twin. So I thought maybe you had a twin and wanted to reunite the two of you."

Jack really loved Henley. But at times like this, especially regarding his family, he was very sensitive. "I didn't want to ever be reunited with him!" Jack exclaimed.

"Come on Jack. Jackster. Jack-attack. We're brothers," Cole teased. Clearly, Cole didn't seem to notice any of Jack's reactions to him being here.

"Give your brother a chance. He doesn't seem the same as your parents and I think it's great that you have a brother," Henley suggested.

"That's because you two have only known each other for, what, half an hour?" Jack snapped.

Henley looked down at her toes, hurt by Jack's words.

Merritt thought about the situation for a while before suggesting, "Henley was just trying to help. None of us knew you had a twin. But he has a lot of the same DNA as you do right? So maybe he's not as bad as your parents?" Merritt filled the taco shells with meat.

"Yeah Jacky. It's great to see you. Moms and pops have been missing you," Cole added.

Jack looked at Cole skeptically, "Really?"

"Actually… nope!" Cole said and began to laugh.

"That's it!" Jack screamed. "If he's going to have dinner here, than you can count me out! I'm going out to have dinner!" Jack angrily grabbed the keys to the truck and stormed out of the room towards the front door.

"Hey Jack," Daniel greeted. He was just leaving his room when Jack walked past him. He frowned when Jack ignored him and even shoved Daniel out of the way.

"Man," Daniel commented as he walked into the kitchen for dinner. "What is Jack's problem today – wait what? Jack, didn't you just leave?"

Cole grinned and nodded his head, "Yo, I'm Cole Aaronson Wilder, Jack's twin brother." Cole held out his hand.

Daniel looked at Merritt and Henley and gave them a face that said ARE YOU KIDDING ME. He shook Cole's hand politely. "Okay… this is very strange. I didn't know Jack had a brother…" Daniel said awkwardly.

"So," Merritt said to ease the silence in the room. "Cole, would you like to join us for dinner? I know you probably wanted to talk to Jack, but I still have some extra tacos that are quite delicious."

"Yeah, man. That'd be cool beans," Cole replied and sat down in a chair.

"Cool beans?" Daniel repeated.

"Hey. My homeskillet totally gets me," Cole said to Merritt and Henley.

"Homeskillet?" Daniel said again. "I don't even know what what homeskillet is and I'm horrified."

Merritt and Henley tried desperately to hide their laughter as they sat down to eat dinner.

"Man, these tacos are ridic!" Cole exclaimed.

"Excuse me?" Daniel asked.

"I think he means ridiculous," Henley suggested.

"Why does he have to shorten ridiculous to ridic?" Daniel asked.

Merritt cut in, "Thanks for the compliment either way… I think."

"Cole, tell us a bit about yourself. And your history with Jack if you'd like," Henley suggested.

"Anything for such a pretty little girl as you," Cole winked.

Daniel coughed, "You were saying about yourself?"

"Right. So Jack and I are identical twins – pretty awesome right? We didn't live together though. My parents always wanted Jack to take on the family business and so he lived on his own and I lived with my parents."

"Feel free not to answer, but I thought your parents were busy with work?" Merritt asked, curious.

"Nah, they took me to their work office and dumped me with the new intern everyday. But it was cool since most of the interns were hot girls. In fact, my mom helped me hook up with some of them. She's my wing-mom after all," Cole grinned.

Henley shuddered, "Oh. Interesting," she tried desperately to change the subject. "Tell us a bit about yourself Cole."

"Definitely. Let's see, I'm a surgical student," Cole began.

"Really?" Daniel asked skeptically.

Cole nodded and continued. "In the flesh. I'm going to have a practice called Cole Cuts, with a "z". I like The Golden Girls, skateboarding, trick candles, women, jet skiing… oh! And these babies," Cole lifted the bottom of his t-shirt up to reveal his abs.

Daniel coughed. Daniel wondered if Jack got all the smarts while the two were in their mother's stomach.

"That's…attractive," Henley mustered.

"You bet. Unfortunately for you, I already have a girlfriend. Her name's Lucy and she's the bomb. But if you leave your phone number, old king Cole might get back to you," Cole replied.

"Yeah… no thanks," Henley said quickly.

The dinner turned silent for a while, with each individual munching on a hard taco shell.

Henley really saw Cole as the key to bringing Jack's family back together. Sure his parents were awful, but at least having a brother will give Jack one dependable family member outside of the Horsemen for Jack to rely on. Even if that one member is a total flirt and obviously clueless to everyone around him. "Hey Cole, listen. Jack told us about his struggle with his parents and I think it'd be great if you could talk to him. You know? You could try and be a supportive brother that he didn't really have," she suggested.

"No can do, missy. What Jack did was horrible," Cole replied immediately.

"Excuse me?" Henley asked, getting angry.

"What Jack did? Are you sure you know what happened?" Merritt demanded.

"Yeah dudes. That was totally uncool of him to just bail on our parents," Cole shrugged.

Merritt thought at first that Cole was just joking around. But he noticed that Cole really did think that Jack was at fault. "Take that back," Merritt said through clenched teeth.

Daniel noticed that Merritt was about ready to tackle Cole and said quickly, "Cole, I think you should go."

"Come on, man. Don't be like that to C-dog! We all know what Jack did was –" Cole began, but Daniel interrupted.

"No, you really have to go. Though I can hide my hatred of you, my teammates aren't as good at self control as I am," Daniel said calmly. He walked over to the front door and opened it widely for Cole.

"On the serious?" Cole asked in shock.

"And C-Dog," Henley said sarcastically, "You can take yourself and those horrible nicknames out of this house and never come back. PLEASE." She pushed Cole all the way out the door and slammed the door on his face.

"Good riddance!" Merritt cheered. He picked up another taco from the tray at the center of the table and began eating.

"To think, there was someone even more arrogant than Daniel!" Henley shuddered as she sat back down at the table to eat dinner.

"Hey! At least I have very amazing qualities to support my healthy arrogance," Daniel muttered.

Henley added, "It's kind of funny. Jack's twin lives with his rich parents, though he isn't as snobbish in terms of having lots of money and flaunting it. But he still manages to have that same arrogance, narcissism, and disregard to others."

"Well, I'm glad we choose the right twin," Merritt joked.

"Speaking of the right twin, I have to go talk to him," Henley acknowledged. She finished her taco and went over to Jack's room. "Jack?" Henley asked tentatively as she pushed the door open.

Jack had returned earlier from eating out and went directly to his room while Cole was still there.

"Henley," Jack greeted. He still looked upset, but not as angry as before.

"Listen Jack, I'm so sorry for what I did," Henley said. "I should've talked to you about inviting Cole over and I definitely should have realized your feelings towards him a lot sooner."

"It's alright Henley. I know you had good intentions," Jack smiled weakly.

"I just wanted to help you somehow connect with even just one member of your family. But now I see, we're so much better than your family. I just hope that we're enough," Henley admitted.

Jack replied, "I didn't really tell any of you about my twin because I just didn't like him. He looks like me, talks like me, and I felt that he could replace me any day and everyone would just forget about me. That's the main reason why I hate him. The other is, as you found out, he's incredibly annoying." Jack laughed lightly.

"I hope you know that no one, not even a clone, could replace you Jack. Or should I say… Jacky?" Henley teased.

Jack gave Henley a serious look. "Don't ever call me that again."

"What? Would you prefer J-dog?" Henley laughed.


	34. Prank

**Thanks for the amazing reviews, follows, and favorites! This request is from Abby, where Daniel is scolded for his womanizing ways. And this chapter is a request from Emily, where the Horsemen pull some pranks on each other. Oh dear...**

**Disclaimer: Don't own ****Now You See Me**

Prank

When Dylan chose people for the Eye, he really tried to pick people that would excel above and beyond the expectations. That's what drew him to the Four Horsemen when Dylan first encountered them individually.

But one of the things Dylan often forgot was that sometimes, even adults are immature. So immature that they can be worse than kids.

If the Four Horsemen were kids, Dylan supposed that he was the parent.

And in most movies, the kids will get arrested at least once, so Dylan supposed that these turn of events were somewhat normal?

Or at least that's how Dylan reasoned it to keep from having too severe of a headache.

Dylan entered the police building and approached the front desk. He told the front desk who he was here for and a policeman lead him to the Four Horsemen, whom were soaking wet and waiting inside a prison cell. The policeman used his keys to unlock the door and let Dylan inside. Then he left to give the group some privacy.

Dylan ran a hand through his hair in agitation, "All I wanted was for you all to lay low. And I thought we agreed on what laying low meant."

"We did," Jack mumbled.

Dylan laughed harshly, "Really? Because I got a call about four young adults having a water fight in the middle of town! And those four young adults just happened to be my Four Horsemen! I was tempted to just leave you all here and not pay the bailout money!"

The magicians looked down, ashamed.

Henley wringed her hands nervously. "We're really sorry," Henley apologized quietly.

Dylan sighed, "All I want to know is what happened."

"From the very beginning?" Merritt asked.

Dylan looked pointedly at him.

"Well, it was really Jack's fault," Merritt said defensively.

"How was it my fault?" Jack demanded. "You all are the ones that decided to saran wrap my clothes to my bed!"

"You what?" Dylan exclaimed.

"Well," Merritt replied, "It was only to teach Jack a lesson."

"Jack has this habit of leaving his clothes all over the place," Henley began.

"And really? Is it that much work to keep your clothes in your room? The only time where clothing can be freely scattered is during heated, passionate sex," Merritt stated.

Daniel rolled his eyes and continued, "We all were annoyed of Jack's habit and wanted to teach him a lesson. So, Merritt came up with a plan. We took all of Jack's clothing and placed it on his bed while he was gone. And then we took twelve rolls of saran wrap and wrapped his clothes to his bed."

"Which was brilliant," Merritt added proudly, but quickly stopped talking when he saw Dylan's glare.

"Do you know how long it took me to get my clothes? FOUR HOURS! They put so much saran wrap that I couldn't even use scissors to get through!" Jack yelled.

"It was a valuable lesson," Henley admitted.

"But Jack was the one who officially started the prank war by striking back," Merritt defended.

"And eventually, we fought over credit for the prank, and turned against each other," Daniel explained. "Though now, I can give all the credit to Merritt since Dylan looks like he is going to kill us."

Dylan rubbed his temples. "I'm afraid to ask, but what else did you all do?" Dylan questioned.

One by one, the Horsemen explained to Dylan the pranks that had occurred during the prank war between the four.

**Duck Tape…**

War was declared and now it was every Horseman for themselves.

Jack walked over to Merritt's room in the middle of the night. He brought with him heavy duty duck tape as well as pieces of trash. Quietly, Jack worked on his prank and when he finished, snuck away before anyone noticing.

The next morning, Merritt woke up and opened his door as usual. He also went to the bathroom and performed his daily routine as usual.

But when he came back, he gasped at his door.

There was trash taped all over his door. Beer cans, used tissues, candy wrappers, used razor blades, toilet paper, banana peels, and other disgusting trash was all duck taped onto Daniel's bedroom door.

And the criminal didn't even bother to hide his deed. The chewed up gum wads in the middle neatly spelled XOXO – JACK on the door.

"JAAAAAAAACCCCCCCCCCCKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK!" Merritt fumed.

**Desktop…**

Henley made her way over to Jack's room and noticed it empty. Casually, she slipped inside and made her way over to Jack's laptop, which was on his bed. She turned it on and waited.

Henley took a screenshot of Jack's desktop. After saving the screenshot, she deleted all of the icons on Jack's desktop. Then she changed Jack's desktop background to the screenshot she just took. She saved all the changes.

After finishing, she slipped back out before Jack returned.

Later, Jack returned to his room to look up a funny video about cats singing to llamas that someone texted him to see. Jack opened up his computer and clicked on the INTERNET EXPLORER icon to go online.

Unfortunately, nothing happened.

Jack crinkled his eyebrows in confusion and clicked on the icon again. But the internet didn't open.

Jack wondered if his computer had frozen, but he could still move his mouse and all the programs were okay when Jack checked. He clicked around in his computer until he found a photo titled DESKTOP SCREENSHOT BY HENLEY.

Jack angrily slammed his laptop screen shut and roared, "HENLEY REEVES YOU ARE SO DEAD!"

**Cooler Than You…**

Daniel waited until Merritt left his room. Daniel stayed in the living room, casually glancing at her magazine but focusing on Merritt's bedroom.

Eventually Merritt left and Daniel went to work. He snuck in and proceeded over to Merritt's laptop. He quickly opened Microsoft Word. Then he clicked on autocorrect and added an entry.

Daniel made it so that every "the" that Merritt typed would be replaced with the words J. DANIEL ATLAS IS COOLER THAN YOU. After he clicked save, he closed Merritt's laptop and left things the way they were.

Later that day, Merritt was typing up a rough draft of a script for one of his mentalist acts. Unfortunately, every time he typed the word "the", J. DANIEL ATLAS IS COOLER THAN YOU would autocorrect in its place.

At first Merritt would try to ignore it. After all, Daniel basically says the sentence in person all the time in all forms during conversations. So every time it autocorrected, Merritt would hit backspace and delete the text.

However, Merritt didn't realize how many times he would use the word "the". Eventually, he found himself reading that Daniel was cooler than him in every sentence. Merritt tried to fix it, but then his computer froze.

Merritt knew Daniel was responsible for the autocorrect. Whether Daniel was responsible for his computer freezing he didn't exactly know, but Merritt was pissed.

"J. DANIEL ATLAS GET YOU OBVIOUSLY UNCOOL SELF IN HERE THIS INSTANT!" Merritt shouted.

**Forks…**

Merritt came into the backyard carrying a box of 1000 plastic forks that he bought from the grocery store.

Henley watered her trumpet vine flowers at the same time everyday. Something about consistency encouraging plant growth. Merritt checked his watch to see that he had half an hour before Henley came to water her flowers.

He looked around to make sure no one saw him and began to stick forks into the soil all over the backyard.

After he finished, he quickly went back into the house. His task was done with five minutes to spare.

Henley had just finished updating her website and found it time to water her plants. She happily walked over to the backyard and stepped outside.

Unfortunately, she could only take one step. The entire backyard had forks sticking up from the ground. Henley fumed as she tried to step around the forks.

But the forks were to close together and would prick her foot. Angrily, she began to pull a few out. But she only took out about ten forks. And from the looks of it, Henley estimated there were about a thousand forks between her and her trumpet vine flowers.

She noticed that one of the forks had a note attached to it. Henley hopped over, getting pricked by a few forks along the way, and picked up the note.

The note was written in scrawl and said MIGHT WANT TO GET A FORKLIFT – MERRITT.

Henley angrily stormed into the house and screamed.

**Womanizer...**

Jack casually walked over to Daniel's room while Daniel was busy showering. He dug around in Daniel's desk until he found Daniel's cell phone and took it out.

Jack quickly went to the settings on Daniel's phone to change the ringtone. After he was done, he click save and placed the phone back where it was.

The next day, Jack and Daniel were in a restaurant ordering food to-go. They had placed their order and were waiting for the food to be prepared before taking it back to the house.

"Daniel, I have to go pee," Jack excused himself to the restroom. After he was out of sight, however, Jack didn't go to the bathroom. He instead turned on his own cell phone and called Daniel's cell phone.

Daniel, meanwhile, was idly waiting around near the pick-up area for the food. He wondered why Jack took so long to pee.

All of a sudden, someone's phone began to ring. And it was playing Womanizer, by Britney Spears. "Boy don't try to front, I know just what you are, Boy don't try to front, I know just what you are, You, You got me going, You, You're oh so charming, You, But I can't do it, You, You womanizer" the ring tone played repeatedly.

Daniel stared accusingly at the people around him. "Okay, whose cell phone is that. First of all, it's very rude to leave your cell phone ringing in public areas. Second, it's rude not to pick up. And third, womanizing is so not cool," Daniel said. He scanned the room and noticed a teenager that looked extremely handsome.

"You!" Daniel pointed.

"Me?" said the handsome boy.

"It's your phone isn't it? You womanizer!" Daniel accused.

"What? I don't even know you!" the boy replied.

Daniel looked pointedly at the boy and said, "Yeah, sure. You probably think you're so handsome and so attractive that every girl falls at your feet. And so you play around with girls, you player. Womanizer." Daniel turned to the ladies in the waiting area. "What do you think? Should we get him?"

The woman all nodded and glared at the boy.

"Nobody likes a womanizer," one old lady said angrily.

"Wait! Don't hurt me! I've never even had a girlfriend!" the boy cried.

"Then whose phone is it?" Daniel demanded.

A little girl tugged on Daniel's sleeve, "Excuse me mister. I don't know what woman...womanizering... well, whatever you said. But your phone is ringing. I see it in your back pocket because the screen lights up."

Daniel suddenly understood. Someone had changed his ringtone. He reached into his pocket and sure enough, it was his cell phone ringing. And Jack was calling. "Jack," Daniel muttered angrily.

And now, every female in the waiting area was glaring at Daniel so hard that Daniel could've melted right there.

**Mentos...**

Merritt quickly took the truck out to buy some Mentos. These Mentos were hard candy mints that Merritt didn't particularly like.

However Merritt bought them to get back at Jack. Jack loved soda as much as Merritt loved beer. Which was a lot.

So, Merritt returned home and quickly put one Mento into each hole in the ice tray. He poured water into each of the holes so that a mento was sitting in water in each hole. Merritt then placed the tray into the freezer and waited for the ice cubes to form.

After the ice cubes formed, Merritt pulled them out of the ice tray and snuck behind Jack.

Jack was watching TV on the sofa with a glass of soda in his hands. He was very into the game and didn't notice Merritt.

Merritt slipped as many ice cubes containing Mentos as possible and snuck away.

Once the ice cubes melted and the Mento touched the soda, Jack's drink blew up in his face.

Merritt chuckled as Jack shrieked and jumped up off the couch.

**Shorts...**

Henley waited until Daniel was in the shower before she carried out her plans.

Daniel showered with lots of hot water, causing lots of fog to hide her, and he liked water to be on high power, making lots of noise to cover for her as well.

Henley picked the lock, skills courtesy to Jack's training, and quietly crept in. She took Daniel's clothes and towel, and placed a pair of her shortest shorts. She also left a note that said YOU HAVE TWO OPTIONS: COME OUT NAKED OR COME OUT WEARING THESE (LOVE, HENLEY).

Daniel got out of the shower and reached for a towel. He blinked in confusion when he couldn't locate one. He looked around and sure enough his clothes were gone as well.

Daniel picked up the note and after reading it, looked down in horror at the jean shorts placed underneath. Daniel couldn't believe that these were even shorts.

He was really conflicted about what to do. He wanted to just make a mad dash to his room, but it was still far away. He would be stark naked for at least fifteen seconds.

Daniel sighed and wore the short shorts.

He opened the door and started bolting towards his room.

Sadly, Henley was positioned in the middle of the hallway with a camera and a smile. "Work it Danny! Show them your sexy legs!" she laughed.

"HENLEY! GIVE ME THAT CAMERA RIGHT NOW!" Daniel demanded. He could not let anyone see him in short shorts and only short shorts. He couldn't even begin to imagine the horror of his fans seeing the photos.

**Water Fight...**

The Four Horsemen were at the mall together. Things were very tense because no truces or surrenders had been called in the prank war. No one knew whether public places were off limits.

And yet, all of them were planning to attack each other that day.

They just didn't know they were all going to do the same prank.

Jack was the first to attack. He waited until all the Horsemen were gathered in the center of town and pulled out his water gun. "TASTE THE AWESOMENESS OF JACK WILDER!" Jack roared and fired his water gun on his teammates.

Henley ducked and pulled out her water gun. "NOT SO FAST!" she cried. She too began to fire at the other Horsemen.

Merritt pulled out his bag of water balloons and began to throw them while laughing evily, "Ha! Ha! Ha!"

And Daniel's attack really brought on the water onslaught. He connected a hose to the fire hydrant and attacked. The hose wasn't as high powered as firefighter hoses, so it wouldn't hurt his teammates, but they were certainly going to be wet. "EAT MY WATERY DUST!" Daniel yelled.

"THAT DOESN'T EVEN MAKE SENSE!"

"YEAH DANNY! COME UP WITH BETTER ATTACKS!"

"SHUT UP YOU GUYS! YOU'RE SCARING CHILDREN!"

"JUST YOUR FACE SCARES CHILDREN!"

After the Horsemen finished explaining, Dylan felt like his head was about to explode. He didn't even say anything, but opened the cell door, got out of the cell, and closed the door again.

"Hey, wait! Dylan – aren't you going to get us out?" Daniel asked.

Dylan didn't say anything but talked to the policeman instead. "If I pay the bailout money, do I have to take them back right away?"

The policeman shook his head, "Nope."

Dylan paid the policeman and then waved goodbye to the Horsemen, "I'll pick you guys up on Monday."

"But today is FRIDAY!" Merritt yelled back.


	35. White Hair

**Thanks for the stunning reviews, follows, and favorites! This chapter is a request from WickedAwesome, where Daniel has some...hair problems (I hope you don't mind, but I got this crazy idea and just ran with it). **

**An important message, I'd like to say that I will no longer be writing any new requests. But I will still finish up the old ones. Though I ABSOLUTELY LOVE all your ideas and placing my own spin on them, I realize that I'm taking away some of your opportunities to write stuff as well. I'd like to encourage each of you to take those ideas that you maybe didn't get a chance to request and write a story or even a short one-shot. You are more than welcome to ask me for advice or help. SEND ME YOUR STORY LINK for me to fall in love with! I hope that you will still continue to enjoy this story and leave reviews regarding feedback or just if you liked the chapter.**

**I'd also like to highlight a wonderful piece of news that Katie, a reviewer, so kindly enlightened me with! DID YOU JUST SAY ****NOW YOU SEE ME**** IS MAKING A SEQUEL? OH YES! THAT'S RIGHT PEOPLE - CELEBRATE AND REJOICE! (as you can tell, I'm very excited!)**

**Disclaimer: Don't own ****Now You See Me**

White Hair 

It was suppose to be just a normal day for Daniel. Usually, he would wake up at 8:00 am. Usually he would brush his teeth, shave if necessary, and then get dressed.

However, today fate had something else planned for him. Fate was going to be very cruel to Daniel. Maybe it was karma for being such an arrogant jerk sometimes.

Daniel woke up at 8:00 am as usual. He was usually the first one up, so everyone else was asleep. He woke up and shuffled over to the bathroom to freshen himself up for the day. Turning on the light to the bathroom, he went up to the sink and began to brush his teeth.

When Daniel looked up in the mirror above the sink, he almost chocked on the toothpaste in his mouth. Quickly, he spit out the toothpaste, turned off the water, and set his cup and toothbrush down.

He brought his hands up to his hair and moved them through his hair. He thought it might have been an illusion from his half-asleep mind. Or perhaps, the lighting skewed what he saw in the mirror.

But no matter how many times Daniel changed the angle at how he looked in the mirror, no matter how many times he turned the lights on and off, nothing changed.

The single grey hair stood firm on the left side of Daniel's bangs. It glimmered an unattractive, indecent grey-white.

And for the first time in his life, Daniel screamed.

Not a moment latter, his partners came rushing into the bathroom. Lights were turned on and Daniel heard feet shuffling towards the bathroom. Still in shock, he put the toilet seat cover down and sat on it, his head in his hands.

Merritt, whose room was closest to Daniel's, came in first. Merritt assessed the state of the bathroom and of Daniel. Finally he said, "Daniel, don't tell me your pregnant?"

"What? Daniel's pregnant?" Jack muttered, walking into the bathroom. He rubbed his eyes tiredly and yawned. "Congrats."

"No!" Daniel exclaimed and glared at Merritt.

Henley was the last to come in. She poked her head through the door and asked, "Is everyone alright?"

Daniel whispered something, but it was so quiet no one could here.

"What was that Daniel?" Jack asked.

He whispered again, slightly louder, but still too quiet for the Horsemen to hear.

"Danny," Henley asked, annoyed. "There better be a good reason why you woke us up so early in the morning with a girly scream."

Daniel rubbed his temple and spoke, this time in a clear voice. "I…I have a… white hair."

The other Horsemen looked at Daniel, looked at his hair, looked at each other, and then began to laugh.

Daniel frowned, "Guys! This is serious!"

But that only made them laugh even harder. Jack put his hand on the wall to steady himself while he snickered. Henley tried to hold in her giggles, to sound supportive, but gave up a few seconds later.

Merritt chuckled and pat Daniel on the back, "Calm down dude. It happened to me to a little while ago but you don't see me panicking."

Daniel looked up in horror, "This is worse than I thought. The white hair are a warning. There's going to be more and then I'm going to be bald. Like Merritt. I'm going to have a head that reflects light like Merritt's. What has the world come to?" Daniel muttered.

Merritt huffed indignantly, "Woah, hey. I'd like to clarify that I only had one white hair. I decided to shave my head as a hairstyle. My hair didn't just fall out. I'm not that old." Unconsciously, he felt his head.

Daniel ignored his bald teammate. He got up and began to pace back and forth in the little bathroom. As he walked, he spoke, "What am I going to do? I can't be a master magician with a white hair. Since when does the stylish and roguishly handsome J. Daniel Atlas have a white hair?"

Henley rolled her eyes at Daniel's overreaction. "It's just a hair. It's not even white, more of a grey. And it's not that noticeable," she said.

Jack scratched his head, more awake now that it was clear no one would be going back to sleep with Daniel in this state. "Why don't you just cut it off?" Jack asked.

"Because then there would be an ugly stub of white hair on every camera headshot of me," Daniel replied, and looked at Jack as though the answer were perfectly obvious.

Jack frowned and wondered why a little stub would even be visible. He tried again, "Then pull it out?"

This time Henley spoke up, "Well, some superstitions say that pulling out one white hair is equivalent to growing three more."

Jack groaned and threw his hands up in frustration.

"Superstition or not, I don't want to risk it. The future of the world is at stake here," Daniel said.

"I have an idea!" Merritt exclaimed. Merritt went over to the cupboard in the bathroom and dug around until he pulled out a small box. Presenting it to his partners, he said, "Daniel can just use hair dye. That way, his hair will be the same tone, the white hair will be exterminated, and the world can live to see another day."

Daniel thought about it and decided it was the best choice. He asked feebly, "Are you sure it's the same shade of brown as my hair?"

Merritt looked at the box. The label said Ash Brown with Light Brown Highlights. He gave Daniel a thumbs-up.

Daniel quickly grabbed the box and pushed the Horsemen out of the bathroom. Closing the door, he went over to the sink and skimmed the instructions on the back of the box. Wanting to exterminate the white hair as soon as possible, Daniel quickly created the dye solution and applied it all over his hair.

10 minutes later, the other Horsemen heard Daniel scream, again.

"Danny, what's wrong now?" Henley asked.

"MY SCALP IS ON FIRE!" Daniel yelled. His scalp was tingly at first, and Daniel thought it was normal for hair dye. But when his scalp started to burn, he knew something was wrong.

Merritt also came into the bathroom, screaming, "DANIEL, YOU'RE ON FIRE?"

A few minutes later, Jack came running into the bathroom with the fire extinguisher. "Don't worry Daniel! I got it!" Jack yelled as he positioned the fire extinguisher at Daniel's head and sprayed.

"STOP JACK I'M NOT ACTUALLY –" Daniel began before the white stuff from the fire extinguisher got into his mouth.

When Jack finally stopped spraying the fire extinguisher he saw Daniel covered in white, like a snowman.

Daniel wiped his face with a nearby towel. He was honestly at a loss for words.

Henley took the fire extinguisher from Jack and said calmly, "Jack, Daniel's head wasn't actually on fire."

"I believe that Daniel probably left the hair dye on too long," Merritt suggested.

"But the box said to leave the hair dye in for 10 minutes," Daniel defended.

Merritt looked at the box and shook her head, "Nope. Danny, it says 9 minutes."

"That's ridiculous! What does one minute do? Who comes up with these numbers?" Daniel demanded.

Henley smiled, "At least your scalp is no longer on fire. And look, the color came out nicely."

Daniel went over to the mirror and looked at his head. Sure enough, he no longer felt a burning sensation. He used a towel to remove the white stuff from his hair, and found that the white hair was completely gone. Daniel ran a hand through his hair, fixing it to its usual position.

However, when he ran his hand through the back of his hair, he pulled some of his hair out.

Daniel gaped in horror and the tuffs of hair in his hands.

For the third time today, Daniel screamed.

Daniel had never once in his life screamed before today. He had also never gotten a white hair, never dyed his hair, and never suffered bald spots. Yet today, fate had decided to be very, very cruel.


	36. Henley Reeves

**Thanks for the fabulous reviews, follows, and favorites! This chapter is the request of Darck Son, where we learn about more about Henley. It is also a request from Who, where another Horsemen celebrates a birthday.**

**Though this news won't mean the end of the world, I have decided to finish this story. I am going on an extensive retreat to the outdoors, and won't have much internet access. Rather than have you all wait several months, I'd rather finish the story before I go and give it a sense of closure. It was an extremely tough decision and I keep telling myself to take it back. To help with my conflicting emotions, I figured I would firmly state it in writing (which is what I'm doing now) and also set a deadline (so the last chapter will be 8/16/13).**

**However, to cheer some of you up (well, probably more to cheer myself up), there will be two chapters per day starting tomorrow! **

**Disclaimer: Don't own Henley Reeves or Now You See Me**

Henley Reeves

Today was Henley's birthday, and unlike Jack who kept his birthday a secret, Henley told everyone the day before because she wanted to treat everyone to dinner that night.

"But Henley, it's your birthday. Don't you want to be lazy and have people serve you cake from your bed?" Merritt asked. Merritt was sitting on the couch with his feet up and was switching from channel to channel on the T.V.

Daniel looked at Henley. "You don't have to cook on your birthday. That'd be more work for you and you're supposed to relax on your birthday," Daniel scolded. He was leaning against the kitchen counter, drinking a soda.

"Or we could throw you a surprise… well, I guess it wouldn't be a surprise anymore now that I said that… never mind," Jack stated. Jack was on the floor, lying on his back trying to stare at the T.V. screen.

"But seriously," Merritt repeated, "It'll be just like your birthdays in childhood. Parents take care of everything, you just enjoy."

"Actually, it was just me and my dad. My mom died while giving birth to me," Henley admitted.

Daniel and Jack glared at Merritt for bringing up a sensitive topic.

"Oh Henley, I'm sorry. You don't have to say anything about it," Merritt said quickly.

"No, it's okay. I wanted to tell you guys eventually. And to be honest, I wasn't even that upset because I never really knew my mom. So, growing up it was just my dad and we were very close. He raised me up," Henley explained.

"You're daddy's little girl," Jack laughed.

Henley smiled fondly at the memories and laughed a little too.

"So… how did you become an escape artist?" Daniel asked carefully. He really did want to know, but never found the right time to bring it up. And now that she was offering to talk about it, Daniel wanted to find out.

"Well, the house that my dad and I lived in was very small, but it had a lot of secret rooms and passages. And I guess my love for finding another route to my room or discovering a secret door grew into my passion for being an escape artist," Henley replied after thinking a bit.

"That's great! And it's nice that your dad was in support of your dreams," Merritt added. However, he watched Henley's face drop and immediately knew that wasn't the case.

"Actually, my dad was very against it. Don't get me wrong. I know he loved me. But he hated the idea and would always try to dissuade me from it. However, at 18 I told him firmly. We had an argument and I left the house," Henley said sadly.

"Like me," Jack mumbled. He went over to Henley and rubbed her back comfortingly.

"But enough on the sadness and nostalgia," Henley said, trying to be optimistic. "I want to prepare a great meal for you guys to celebrate. Back in my childhood, I would cook my whole birthday meal and my dad, no matter how bad it tasted, would finish it all. But don't worry, I'm a great chef now," she stated.

And so, on the day of Henley's birthday, the Horsemen were very busy. Henley refused to let anyone come into the kitchen, so the other three Horsemen ate lunch at a restaurant outside without her.

And after they ate, they went around the mall looking for a suitable present. The three split up and agreed to meet back at the fountain in the courtyard to discuss what they thought would be a suitable present.

Two hours later, the three met again with some present ideas. Or, as they would soon realize, lame attempts at present ideas.

"Okay, so what did you guys find? All I could find was food," Jack asked. Turns out, the reason that Jack could only find food for Henley because he spent the two hours eating at the food court.

Daniel rolled his eyes, "I think we should get her something flashy like a diamond necklace."

Merritt and Jack looked at him.

"Daniel, do you know how much a diamond necklace will cost. No way Dylan is going to let us buy something like that with the Eye's money," Jack replied.

"Well, I think I have a winner," Merritt said dramatically. "We should get Henley… a fedora hat!"

Now, Jack and Daniel stared at him.

"A fedora? Really?" Jack shook his head.

"So, our choices are food, diamonds, or a hat. Great," Daniel muttered.

Merritt shrugged, "I see nothing wrong with a hat. It's stylish and trendy."

Jack ignored Merritt's defense and groaned.

Suddenly, Daniel jumped up onto his feet. "Get me a phonebook and Dylan on the phone," he demanded.

"What? Why?" Jack questioned.

Merritt used his mentalist tricks and realized what Daniel was going to do. "I have to admit, that's not a bad idea," Merritt commended. Merritt pulled out his cell phone and dialed for Dylan.

"What's not a bad idea?" Jack said, looking back and forth between the two magicians. "Why am I the only one left out of the plan?" he whined.

Meanwhile, Henley was back in the house, finishing up her cooking. For dinner, she made salads, roasted chicken, mashed potatoes, and a lemon chiffon cake. She quickly set up the plates and utensils.

Just as Henley was setting up the last bit, she heard her teammates enter the house.

"Wow, Henley. It smells so delicious. Is that your famous garlic mashed potatoes I smell?" Merritt yelled from the front door.

"Come in guys! You're just in time for my fabulous birthday dinner," Henley declared.

All of them quickly set their stuff down to come and eat. They sat down in the chairs and grinned anxiously.

"Okay, here you are!" Henley said excitedly. She brought over the salads first and set them down by each person. Then she brought over the chicken, fresh out of the oven.

Everyone happily dug into the meal. Henley was indeed a great chef.

At first, the group ate in comfortable silence for a while. Then, Daniel wiped his mouth and began to speak, "Henley, how's your birthday so far?"

"Great," Henley smiled. "I love spending time with you all and I'm very flattered that my cooking is well-liked."

"Is anything missing?" Jack asked.

Henley laughed, "No, I don't think so…"

Merritt caught on immediately and asked, "But?"

"Well," Henley sighed as she wiped her mouth. "I celebrated my birthday every year with my dad, so birthdays were a father-daughter time for us. Now, don't get me wrong. I love you all so much. But it'd be even better if my dad was here."

"So, if your dad came right now, would you be glad to see him?" Jack asked.

"Of course!" Henley said, offended that Jack would even have to ask.

"Well, that's great to hear. I think it's time we show you your birthday present. Now, be warned. It's nothing expensive," Merritt said.

"Nothing's about cost," Henley said encouragingly. "Are you sure you want me to have my present now? We're not even done eating!"

"Yes, the sooner the better. Daniel, go get the present," Jack demanded.

And for once, Daniel did as he was told without protesting. Daniel got up and went over to the front door.

"Why is Danny leaving?" Henley asked, confused.

"You'll see," Jack replied in a singsong voice.

A few minutes later, Daniel came back inside the house.

Henley looked closely and saw someone behind Daniel.

"Presenting," Jack began.

"The one and only," Merritt continued.

"Mr. Damion Reeves," Daniel finished. He moved out of the way to reveal Henley's dad from behind.

Henley covered her mouth with her hands. "Dad?" she whispered.

Her father grinned and held out his arms, "Come here Henley! Give your dad a hug that will make up for these lonely years without you."

Henley immediately got up out of her seat and ran over to her dad. She gave him a huge hug and didn't let go for several minutes.

"Aw…" Jack smiled.

"Dad, what are you doing here?" Henley asked him. She didn't stop hugging him, though.

"Your friends invited me over to your birthday with the approval of your boss, Dylan," her dad replied, laughing. He was so glad to see his baby girl again.

"Oh dad, I'm so sorry for leaving. I just couldn't give up being an escape artist. It's all those great memories of discovering new secret doors, passages, escapes, tunnels, and rooms in the house that I love so much. And that house is only treasurable because of you," Henley rambled. "Can you forgive me?"

"Of course Henley, dear. Honestly, I knew I couldn't keep you away from being an escape artist. I was just –" her dad paused, trying to articulate.

"He didn't want to see his little girl unsuccessful," Merritt suggested.

"And worried for his baby girl like any good parent," Jack grinned.

"So, he tried to push you in what he thought was the right direction," Daniel concluded.

"Right," her dad finished lamely.

"Aw, dad. Thanks. I love you," Henley replied.

"So, I hate to break up the reunion, but we still have a delicious meal and Henley's birthday to celebrate!" Jack exclaimed.

Everyone laughed and went to the kitchen to eat. They talked about lots of different things over dinner. And afterwards, Henley went to prepare the final touches to her dessert.

Jack and Merritt watched some TV to wait for the cake.

Daniel, on the other hand, walked over to Henley's father. "So Mr. Reeves sir," Daniel began nervously.

Her father laughed, "Call me Damion. What do you need?"

"Okay, Damion. So, I've known Henley for a long time now and she really means a lot to me," Daniel began slowly.

"Oh…" Henley's father replied, shifting his hands.

"And I really want to ask her… to be my girlfriend. But I wanted to get your approval first," Daniel finished quickly.

Her father didn't say anything and just looked at Daniel. After a while, he said calmly, "You know… Daniel, can I call you Daniel?"

"Of course, sir," Daniel replied and nodded vigorously.

"Daniel, such a nice ring to it. Anyways, Daniel, I don't know if Henley told you what I do?" Damion continued.

"No, sir," Daniel stated.

"I'm a lumberjack. Okay, a part-time lumberjack. But the point is that I cut down trees. Do you know what I use to cut down trees?" Henley's father said. He took a sip of tea from his cup and looked at Daniel.

"Uh… an axe sir?" Daniel guessed.

"That's right. I love my axe almost as much as I love Henley. My axe is a steel Estwing with a leather handle that I got when I first started cutting down trees. Do you know where I keep this axe?" Damion said whistfully.

"I… um… I guess your house?" Daniel answered.

"Nope. I keep it in the trunk of my car. In case there's a pesky tree threatening me in someway. I just take it out and exterminate whichever tree I need to exterminate," Henley's father replied. He made a gesture with his hands to demonstrate his axe.

Daniel shifted awkwardly in his chair. "Um… that's great sir. But what does it have to do with me getting your approval?" Daniel asked, a sudden spring of confidence and courage.

"It is related," Damion replied. "I can't stop you from asking my baby on a date, especially if she likes you back. However, if you become a problem to me or my beloved Henley, I will not hesitate to take my beloved axe and chop you up like a sushi roll. I happen to love sushi, don't you?"

Daniel gulped, "No sir. I don't like raw fish."

Henley's father looked at him. "Pity," he replied.

Suddenly, Henley came over and told them that she was cutting cake. Her father rose from the chair and patted Daniel on the back, "Nice talk we had." He then walked over to the kitchen.

Daniel sighed and tried to calm his nervous heart rate. Daniel wondered if he peed his pants a little.


	37. Apples to Apples

**Thanks for the thoughtful reviews, follows, and favorites! And a very special thank you to everyone for being so incredibly supportive! **

**I'm not sure whose request this was. I usually keep a record on paper, and write down the person who requested it. However, this idea had no name. Nevertheless, to the mysterious requester, this is a chapter where the Horsemen play a board game. I'd like to note that you may not understand this chapter if you haven't played Apples to Apples before (or Cards Against Humanity). **

**Disclaimer: Don't own the games Apples to Apples and Cards Against Humanity, the Bates Motel from ****Psycho****, or ****Now You See Me**

Apples to Apples

The rain outside grew heavier by the hour. It was clear that no one could go out for the afternoon. As a result, the Four Horsemen were left with little to do. Jack was sprawled on the couch on his phone. Daniel was sketching on a paper spread out on the kitchen table, most likely a new magic trick plan. Henley had a pencil her hand as well, adding ideas to Daniel's plans.

Suddenly, Merritt came into the living room with a box in his hand. He gathered everyone to sit on the floor and said excitedly, "Look what I found in the house! Apples to Apples!"

"Hey, I use to play that with my dad!" Henley reminisced. In fact, she was quite skilled and won every round.

"Where did you manage to find that, Merritt?" Jack questioned.

"The closet," Merritt answered. He set the box down on the floor and opened it up.

Daniel frowned. "What? Is it like bobbing for apples?" Daniel had never even heard of Apples to Apples.

Merritt quickly set up the game and explained the rules. He recalled wanting to play board games and such in his childhood, but no one would ever play with Merritt because they felt his mentalist abilities gave him an unfair advantage. He tried to explain that certain games, like Apples to Apples didn't even involve mentalism, and also that his mentalist abilities weren't even considered good at the time. No one understood, so no one would play with him.

Merritt even turned to his siblings. When Merritt tried to ask his sisters, they ended up using him as a dress up doll. At first, Merritt went along with their dress-up games in hopes that they would then go along with his board games. But Merritt learned that his sisters wouldn't play the game with him, even after they dressed him like a glittery princess.

Jack was the first judge, and his green card topic was **Profound**. He gave the other Horsemen time to put their red cards down. After everyone put their cards down, he flipped them over and was faced with **Board Games**, **Elvis Presley**, and **Canadians**.

Jack grinned. "I'd have to say Canadians."

Merritt grinned in triumph. "Yes!" he exclaimed. Merritt took the first green card.

Merritt pulled **Awkward **as his green card. Merritt whistled and waited as the other Horsemen placed their red cards down. He flipped over the red cards to see **Friction**, **My Bathroom**, and **Under the Covers**.

"Under the covers, that's what I'm talking about," Merritt laughed.

Henley smirked and took the green card back. She pulled a green card out and showed it, **Annoying**. The red cards were put down and Henley turned the cards over to reveal **MTV Music Awards**, **Carbs**, and **Pluto**.

And so the game continued for about an hour or so. In the lead, with 10 green cards was Henley, second with 8 was Merritt, third with 5 was Jack, and trailing behind was Daniel, with 2.

"I think this game is rigged," Daniel said defensively.

"Maybe you just don't have a sense of humor?" Henley suggested.

"My answers are logical. When you get an adjective such as **Risky** the logical follow up would be something like what I put, **Bates Motel** because you will probably die. Yet which card wins? **Picking Your Nose** does," Daniel countered.

Jack frowned, "Hey! Picking your nose can very well be dangerous. You could cause a nose bleed or something."

"Yes, so you'd rather live with Alfred Hitchcock's psychopathic murderer than survive a nosebleed," Daniel replied sarcastically.

"Well when you put it that way of course it sounds ridiculous! The point of this game is to sound ridiculous! So ridiculous it's funny!" Jack defended.

"No. It's to match the adjective with the most reasonable noun. This is an outrage!" Daniel muttered.

Merritt smiled at how immature his friends were. Although he didn't play Apples to Apples in his childhood, he definitely didn't feel left out. Only with this crazy bunch of people did Apples to Apples turn into a courtroom debate. He could only imagine what would happen if he had asked them to play Cards Against Humanity instead.


	38. Carnival

**Thanks for the amazing reviews, follows, favorites, and support! This chapter is a request from claire3loves3music, where Jack wins Henley a stuffed animal and Daniel tries to win a bigger one. It is also the request of Anything Goes, where Daniel admits a fear and a Horsemen helps him overcome it. **

**This is the second post for today. I noticed that the earlier post was pretty short, and this one is way longer. I hope it cancels out? Either way, enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: Don't own ****Now You See Me**

Carnival

One day, the Horsemen were sitting at home, bored. For some reason, none of them could find anything to do at all and as a result, all lied on the couch and just stared at the ceiling.

Suddenly, Daniel's cell phone began to ring. "Boy don't try to hide it, I know just what you are…"

Henley laughed, "Is that Womanizer? By Britney Spears? Wow, Danny, didn't know you listened to that kind of music."

Daniel mentally slapped himself for not changing his ringtone back to it's original. He ignored Henley's comment and answered the phone, "Hello?" Daniel put the phone on speakerphone for everyone to hear.

"Hey Daniel. Listen, I happen to have four tickets to the carnival that is in town this weekend. Do the Horsemen want to go?" Dylan asked.

"The… the carnival?" Daniel repeated.

"YES!" Jack piped in. "Let's go!"

"Sure, we don't have any plans today anyways," Henley acknowledged.

"The carnival?" Daniel repeated again. He seemed to be in shock.

"Great," Dylan said through the phone. "I'm emailing the tickets to you right now. Just print them out and you can go today."

"Thanks Dylan," Merritt said.

"No problem. Have fun you guys," Dylan replied and hung up the phone.

Henley looked at Daniel, "Danny, what's wrong? You look like you've seen a ghost."

"It's just that the carnival isn't even fun. We waste so much money on impossible to win games, see shows that aren't half as cool as magic shows, and eat fatty foods that give us pimples," Daniel explained.

Jack laughed, "Come on Daniel, if you don't want to go at least come up with better excuses."

"I think Daniel is… afraid of the carnival?" Merritt said.

Daniel glared. Sometimes, he wanted to shove that mentalist in a ditch. "Psh… that's ridiculous," Daniel scoffed.

The group stared skeptically at Daniel.

"Well, okay. I'm not afraid of the carnival… just of the clowns…" Daniel finally admitted. He let out a breath of relief, no longer needing to hold his secret in.

Henley thought for a while before replying, "Okay, let's go!"

"Wait – Henley! Didn't you hear me? I don't like clowns," Daniel said quickly.

"He has coulrophobia," Jack said informatively. "I just looked up what a phobia of clowns is," he explained when his teammates gave him confused looks.

"I know, but I think we can help you get over your fear… coulrophobia or whatever," Henley smiled. "We want to help you Danny!"

"Definitely," Merritt grinned, with an evil glint in his eye. "I think that as the mentalist, I should work with Daniel to help him."

"That's a great idea! Thanks for volunteering to help," Henley exclaimed.

"Wait! I don't think it's such a good idea to let Merritt help me with my fear," Daniel said desperately.

But no one paid any attention to Daniel.

"Let's go get ready and leave!" Jack cheered.

The Horsemen got dressed and drove the car to the carnival in town. There was a tent, petting zoo, lots of games and booths, some larger animals, and many people. The air smelled like popcorn and cotton candy.

"Okay, there's a show at 5:00 so I'm thinking that we can just explore and have fun until then?" Jack suggested.

"Definitely!" Henley exclaimed.

"Daniel and I are going to go and conquer the clown-phobia!" Merritt proclaimed and dragged Daniel away.

"Poor Danny," Henley laughed. "Well Jack, what should we do?"

Jack rubbed his chin as he looked around. "Want to check out the booths?" Jack asked.

"Sure," Henley replied.

The two walked over to a cluster of booths. There was a milk bottle pyramid, basketball shoot, weight guessing, water guns, strength tests, balloon dart throw, ring toss, shooting, duck pond, and more.

"Wow – what should we play? There's so many," Henley said.

"How about this one?" Jack suggested. He pointed to a booth where there was a board with holes. The goal of the game was to throw beanbags into the holes, which had different values.

Henley nodded and walked over to the booth where Jack pointed too. She looked at all the stuffed animal prizes hung up. "Oh! I want to win that panda!" Henley said excitedly. She pointed to the panda stuffed animal that hung on the right.

Jack laughed at how childish Henley was being and followed her.

"Excuse me? I'd like to play one round," Henley stated as she pulled out some money.

The man running the booth nodded, took the money, and handed Henley three bean bags.

Henley did her best, but unfortunately didn't have the best aim. She didn't win the panda and turned back to Jack with a sad look.

"Maybe you should try again?" Jack suggested.

"Yeah, okay!" Henley said with some enthusiasm. She paid for another round, but alas, still didn't win. "Oh well," she said. "Better luck on some other game I suppose." She began to walk away.

Jack, however, stopped Henley mid-step. "You forget, dear Henley, that you have this wonderful magician beside you who has such precise aim that he can slice a banana in two with a card," Jack said proudly. He approached the booth and paid for another round.

Henley watched anxiously and cheered from Jack's side, "Go Jack! I believe in you!"

Jack threw all three beanbags and all three made it into the hole. "YES!" he cheered as the man rang the little bell symbolizing that someone won a prize. Jack pointed to the panda bear to show the man which one he wanted.

After Jack received the panda bear, he handed it to Henley.

"Oh thank you so much Jack! You're the best!" Henley exclaimed. She gave Jack a quick kiss on the cheek and then hugged her panda bear stuffed animal.

Jack blushed just a little, but quickly brushed it off and said, "Let's go find some food. I'm hungry."

"Okay, I think I saw a churro stand earlier," Henley suggested.

Meanwhile, Merritt was trying to help Daniel with his fear of clowns. The two sat on a bench and ate cotton candy. Merritt had demanded a fee for his guidance and much to Daniel's refusal to even accept Merritt's guidance, Daniel finally bought Merritt a cotton candy just to shut him up.

"Okay Daniel – when did all this clown fear start?" Merritt asked. He pulled a chunk of cotton candy and stuffed it in his mouth.

"Well, it's not really that unique. I saw my first horror movie, which happened to be about a clown and was absolutely horrified. From then on, I hated clowns. I wouldn't even go near my sister when she was dressed as a clown for Halloween one year, and that is saying something," Daniel explained.

"Mhm… I see. So, I propose a strategy to try and get over your fear. First, we will just see pictures of clowns, on posters and things like that. Then, we can find a clown for you to meet," Merritt decided. Before waiting for Daniel's approval, Merritt finished his cotton candy and pulled Daniel up on his feet.

They walked around the carnival until they could find some posters advertising the clown shows and acts available at the carnival.

Daniel tried not to make it obvious, but stayed away from the clown advertisements. He continued walking, ignoring Merritt's stare.

"Daniel, come on. Do you really need to walk 10 feet away from the poster? You don't have a restraining order on clowns. Get closer, they aren't even real. And you know your motto - the closer you are, the less you see," Merritt stated.

Daniel glared but didn't move.

Merritt sighed and pulled Daniel closer. He made it so that Daniel would walk the closest to the posters.

Once Merritt moved Daniel, though, Daniel would just move away from the poster again.

"Okay," Merritt gave up. "Let's try a different thing to overcome these clown pictures." Merritt reached into his pocket and pulled out a pen. "You like to be in control and be superior right?"

"Hey, what's that suppose to mean," Daniel muttered.

"I'm going to give you this pen and I want you to draw on the clown posters. That way, you will feel superior because you control how they look. And it will make you feel more powerful. And it is a way to vent out your hatred and fear," Merritt explained. He held out the pen for Daniel.

Daniel took the pen and walked up to a poster. He lifted his hand, but hesitated. "I don't know…" he said, unsure of himself.

"Have some confidence. The J. Daniel Atlas I know never shakes or quivers," Merritt scolded.

Daniel closed his eyes and drew a mustache on the clown. He opened his eyes and began to smile.

"See, it's not so bad. It's just a picture and you don't let the clown control you or your feelings," Merritt repeated proudly.

Daniel didn't say anything but began to draw lots of things on the poster. After he drew all over one poster, he would move onto the next poster and draw on the clowns.

Merritt sat on a bench and smiled in satisfaction. He slowly began to fall asleep on the bench.

Suddenly, one of the workers at the carnival came up to Daniel. Daniel, however, was too busy to take notice of the worker because he was having too much fun drawing on the posters.

"Excuse me," the worker said. "You can't graffiti the posters."

"Shut up," Daniel said, thinking that the man talking to him was Merritt trying to bother him.

"I don't know who Merritt is, but listen mister. Graffiti is a violation of the law. I can have a police officer arrest you," the work said, getting angrier.

Now Daniel turned around, "Oh, I'm so sorry. I thought you were my friend. But see, I'm not really graffiti-ing the posters. I'm strengthening my control over my fear."

The worker looked at Daniel like he was a lunatic. He pulled out his walkie-talkie and began to say, "Yes, I'd like to report a possibly mentally-unstable man of about 30 –"

"I'm nowhere near 30!" Daniel shouted.

That woke Merritt up. He quickly realized that Daniel was about to get arrested and walked over to save Daniel's butt.

"Hi mister. I'm Merritt," Merritt introduced himself. "I know my friend wasn't suppose to write on the posters, but there's a logical explanation for it. See, my friend has this huge fear of clowns and I'm trying to help him get over it. By writing and drawing on the clowns, he realizes that the clowns don't control him." Merritt eyed the worker to see if he bought it.

And the worker did. "Wow, I never thought of it that way!" the worker exclaimed. "I have a fear of clowns too. But now, I know just how to fix it." The worker nodded to them and left.

Merritt sighed in relief. "Okay, no more drawing on clown pictures. You have passed the first step to get over your fear. Next, we find you a clown to meet," Merritt said.

"Oh no. These are just photos. I can't stand real clowns," Daniel shook his head vigorously.

Merritt ignored him and walked around the carnival until they found a clown. The clown was an older man and was dressed in suspenders and carried a flower.

"Hi Mr. Clown. This is my friend Daniel. He has a fear of clowns and I'm trying to get over it. So, I thought it'd be great for him to meet a clown and see that they aren't so scary after all," Merritt stated.

"Um…" Daniel coughed. "Hi. I'm Daniel."

The clown held out his hand and smiled.

Daniel stared at the clown's hand and didn't shake it. He whistled awkwardly and avoided eye contact.

But the clown kept waiting until finally, Daniel caved and shook the clown's hand.

The clown nodded enthusiastically. This clown wasn't suppose to talk, so he communicated with Daniel and Merritt using gestures, like charades. He told them about why he became a clown, what he does, and why he continues to be a clown.

And Merritt had to admit, this clown was genuinely trying to help Daniel's fear. In fact, Merritt felt that the clown had better intentions than Merritt did. Merritt had agreed to help mostly to see Daniel's usually poised and arrogant complexion squirm from fear. But this clown was really good at easing Daniel's tensions.

After about half an hour, the clown had to leave to go get ready for a show. He bid Merritt and Daniel goodbye.

Daniel smiled a small smile and waved back.

"See," Merritt said smugly, "That wasn't so bad now, was it?"

"Whatever," Daniel mumbled. But in truth, he really did feel more confidence around clowns. Though he would never admit it, Merritt had really helped him. Daniel made a mental note to pay Merritt back sometime in the future with a favor.

The two walked around and looked at the booths and games. Now that they were no longer on a mission to help Daniel, they could fully enjoy the carnival. They walked and played some games and soon met up again with Henley and Jack.

"Hey guys!" Jack yelled and came over with Henley.

"I'm happy to report that Daniel is no longer afraid of clowns," Merritt affirmed. "Henley, is that a panda?"

"Isn't it cute?" Henley squealed as she gave the panda a huge hug.

"Did you win it? You know carnival games are rigged so most of them are difficult to win," Daniel said.

"No, Jack won it for me. Rigged games are no match for a magician with incredible aim," Henley stated. She held up the panda for them to see.

"It's not that cute," Daniel muttered.

"Sure it is. The only thing that could compete with it's cuteness is that gigantic dolphin over there. We tried to win it, but couldn't," Henley explained.

"Well, that's because you didn't have the great J. Daniel Atlas to win it for you," Daniel said arrogantly. "I'll get it for you. Come on."

"Wait Daniel, you don't understand. The game isn't an accuracy game it's a –" Jack tried to warn Daniel, but Daniel interrupted him.

"You're just jealous because the stuffed animal I'm going to win is way bigger than yours," Daniel stated. He walked over to the game and paid for one round.

The game was one that tested strength. The person would stand on a gigantic button and jump, and then the arrow would go up a certain amount on the scale. To win the gigantic dolphin, you would have to reach the top. Each person got three jumps to try and win.

Daniel jumped three times, but didn't win. In fact, on the strength meter it said WEAKLING.

The other three Horsemen tried not to laugh.

"That doesn't count. I wasn't ready," Daniel snapped at them. He turned and paid for another game.

However, Daniel's strength was yet again assigned to WEAKLING. He paid again and again but couldn't get higher than WEAKLING.

"Come on Danny, let's go. It's okay, I didn't really want that dolphin anyway," Henley said assuringly. Just Daniel's efforts to win was enough for her. And besides, she never pinned Daniel down to be someone of physical strength.

Daniel sighed and got off the button. "It's definitely rigged. Impossible to win, just there to take money away from kids," Daniel muttered.

They began to leave, but a little girl approached the booth. She paid for a game and got onto the button.

Daniel stopped the other Horsemen from leaving. "Watch," Daniel stated. "The girl is going to get WEAKLING because this game is rigged that no one can win –"

Daniel stopped midsentence because that girl just won the game. He watched in horror as the girl skipped over to pick up the gigantic dolphin and then skipped away.

Merritt stifled a laugh and said, "Come on, the show is starting and we have to sit in the front to get a good view."

Daniel was still in shock and followed the Horsemen into the big circus tent. "I don't understand…" Daniel muttered. "It's completely illogical."

"Or you're just weak, dude," Jack grinned.

Daniel was about to counter, but the lights were dimmed. The show was about to start.

"Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, we hope you had a great time at the carnival so far. The show will now begin!" came the announcement from the loudspeaker.

The spotlight turned on and on the center of the stage was a clown. Not the same clown that Merritt and Daniel met, but a clown dressed similarly. Everything else on the stage was pitch black and the audience couldn't see anything beyond the spotlight.

The clown made some gestures and the audience understood that the clown wanted a volunteer. Everyone raised their hands and waved them, hoping to get picked.

"Danny, you should raise your hand! Since you're not afraid of clowns, this would be like a celebration of overcoming your fear," Henley suggested.

Daniel nodded and put his hand up. He knew that losing to a little five year old in front of someone you like was absolutely humiliating. But at least he could show the girl he liked that he was no longer afraid of clowns.

The clown looked around at the volunteers and eventually picked Daniel.

Daniel got up out of his seat and walked down the aisle to the center of the stage. He stood next to the clown proudly and smiled as Henley cheered him on.

The clown put a blindfold on Daniel and brought a finger to his lips, telling the audience to be quiet.

The lights were suddenly turned on and everything that was in pitch black was now revealed.

Merritt gasped. The stage was decorated like a haunted Halloween night and there were clowns on the stage that looked like something out of a clown horror movie.

And poor Daniel was standing at the center of the stage, blindfolded, without a clue.

"You know, it's a good thing you helped him get over his fear," Henley said to Merritt.

"Yeah, I mean it's incredible that he walked into a show called CREEPY CLOWNS OF HORROR with so much confidence," Jack said.

"Good job Merritt," Henley said as she patted Merritt on the back.

Merritt shrunk down in his seat. He mentally slapped himself for not bothering to read even the title of the show they were going to see.

He knew this would not end well.


	39. Crowd

**Thanks for the kind reviews, follows, favorites, and support! This is the request from Sekai - Nakamura, where the Horsemen interrogate Jack's date. This is the first update of today, and later there will be another chapter. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: Don't own Now You See Me**

Crowd

Merritt walked into the living room and found Henley and Daniel watching a movie. They didn't sit extremely close, but definitely side by side. The movie was a romantic comedy of some sort and apparently was funny enough that even Daniel had a smile on his face.

Merritt walked over and wedged himself into the minimal space between them. He grabbed the remote and clicked PAUSE.

Henley glared at Merritt, "Hey! What's the big deal?" She tried to grab the remote back from Merritt, but Merritt lifted the remote away.

"Yes, please give Henley the remote so we can return to the movie," Daniel muttered, annoyed. He really wanted to know if the two leads were going to apologize to each other.

"There's this absolutely fabulous new French restaurant in town. Let's all go out and eat it for dinner, all right? I already made reservations at 7:00pm!" Merritt explained quickly.

"Fine, now move!" Henley said, irritated. She pulled the remote away and pressed PLAY.

"What she means is, we'll be there," Daniel replied. "Now, move."

Merritt got up, not interested in the movie. Now, he just had to find Jack.

And, as if on cue, Jack came into the living room to get to the kitchen. He was hungry and wanted to search the kitchen for a snack.

"Jack!" Merritt called.

"Hey Merritt! What's up?" Jack grinned. Jack opened the fridge and found some leftover cheesecake. He pulled out the cheesecake and grabbed a fork to start eating.

"Are you free tonight? There's this totally awesome new restaurant that I want to try!" Merritt asked.

Jack paused and suddenly began to avert his eyes, "Erm… actually no. I have… plans…"

"What plans?" Merritt asked suspiciously. He eyed Jack and started to use his mentalist skills.

"Important plans. So no, I can't join you. But have fun without me!" Jack said and quickly ran back to his room with the cheesecake. He knew Merritt could guess what his plans were and didn't want to give Merritt the chance to figure it out.

Merritt shrugged. Sometimes, boys at Jack's age were just moody and awkward. He then walked over to the kitchen to see if there was any more cheesecake in the fridge.

Later that day, Jack was in front of his mirror getting dressed. He put on dark black jeans and a dark maroon v-neck t-shirt. And of course, he grabbed his leather jacket. Jack slipped on his sneakers and checked his hair. Then he left his room.

Jack noticed that everyone was in the living room and sighed in relief. As quietly as he could, he snuck out the front door and closed it behind him. He waited briefly, in case one of his teammates came after him, but when they didn't, he began to walk down the hill.

Tonight, Jack had a date. He met a girl while jogging one afternoon. Her name was Mia, and she lived down the hill from the Horsemen's house. Jack jogged with her back to her house and before she closed the door, Jack quietly asked her on a date. She smiled, ran into the house, came back out with a pen, and wrote her phone number on his hand. It was a classic, cheesy, but romantic movie scene.

Jack wanted to take Mia to a nice restaurant, so when he found out about a new French one, he quickly made a reservation. He knew how much Merritt and the gang liked to try new foods, but Jack figured that he could come with them another time. He felt a little guilty about keeping his date a secret, but as he found out when Merritt had a date, the Horsemen had a habit of meddling.

So, Jack walked over to Mia's house. Earlier, he had pulled some of Henley's trumpet vine flowers and arranged them into a bouquet. When he arrived at her door, Jack handed her the bouquet. Mia wore a black and white polka-dot dress with a maroon belt cinched around her waist. She blushed and pointed out that she and Jack were matching.

Jack had to lie and say he didn't have a car because he didn't want to look suspicious. Mia was nice enough to let them use her car, though she insisted on him letting her pay half the dinner check.

The two arrived at the restaurant, just in time for their 6:45pm reservation. They got a nice window seat and ordered their food. Once the waiter left, Jack and Mia began to converse and were really starting to get into each other.

Meanwhile, Henley, Merritt, and Daniel were in the truck and on the way to the restaurant. Merritt was driving. Daniel and Henley sat in the back.

"Hey, how come Jack didn't come with us?" Henley asked from the back.

"Said he had plans," Merritt replied.

"What plans could the boy possibly have?" Daniel questioned.

"I don't know. I'm not as prying as you Daniel," Merritt laughed.

Daniel glared, "Hey. I'm not prying. I'm just good at getting information out of people."

"No, I'm good at that. You are just nosy," Merritt teased.

Merritt finally reached the restaurant, but found it difficult to find a parking spot. "How about I just drop you both off first and meet you in the restaurant?" Merritt suggested.

"Good idea," Henley replied.

Henley and Daniel stepped out of the car and walked into the restaurant. They checked in.

On their way to the table, Henley muttered to Daniel, "I have to use the restroom. You go ahead first."

Daniel nodded and went to the table first. The table had a lovely view since it was near a window.

And the table happened to be right next to Jack's table.

Jack noticed Daniel and immediately shrunk down in his chair. He couldn't believe that the restaurant Merritt wanted to try was the same restaurant Jack was at. "Hey Mia, actually, the service is taking too long. How about we just go and grab a burger?" Jack said quickly and got up out of his seat. He grabbed Mia's hand and began to pull her out of her seat.

Mia laughed, not understanding Jack's sudden need to leave, "Jack, it's French cuisine. Of course it takes a long time. And the time we wait just gives us more time to get to know each other." She smiled.

And Mia's smile almost got Jack to sit back down. Almost. "No, really Mia. I can't stand the amount of time they expect us to wait here. I have such a pretty date and they don't seem –" Jack rushed but was soon spotted by Daniel.

Daniel had just sat down at the table and looked around at everyone in the restaurant. He then noticed that the man next to their table had a leather jacket that looked exactly like Jack's. Daniel shifted in his chair and, sure enough, that was Jack. "Hi Jack! I thought you weren't coming?" Daniel said.

Jack awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck, "Oh… hey…"

"Why are you here – oh. Excuse me for being so rude. Who is this lovely lady?" Daniel asked, catching onto the situation.

"Hi," Mia grinned. "I'm Mia."

Jack sighed pointedly, hoping that Daniel got the hint to leave the restaurant because he was on a date. "Mia, this is Daniel. My used-to-be friend," Jack stated.

"Hey, that's not nice to say to a dear and treasured friend, practically family member. Pleasure to meet you Mia. Could you, by any chance, be Jack's date for the evening?" Daniel wiggled his eyebrows and turned to Jack with a smirk.

Mia opened her mouth to answer but was soon cut off by Jack.

"Is it just you here?" Jack asked. He hoped and prayed that Daniel was the only one here. Daniel wasn't too big of a problem, Jack thought.

"Nope," Daniel grinned evilly. "Everyone is here."

Jack began to panic. "Um… Mia, why don't we just go. Since Daniel's here to enjoy some cuisine, we might disturb them –" Jack was cut off again.

"Oh I'm sorry, am I being rude? Maybe I should go," Daniel teased.

"Yes, please leave," Jack said, relieved that Daniel got the hint.

But turns out, Daniel didn't get the hint at all. Instead, Daniel brought his chair over to their table and sat back down, "That's better. It's so rude to talk with such a distance between you and the person you are talking to. Am I right?"

Suddenly, they heard Henley's voice.

"Jack? Jack! Hey! What are you doing here? Merritt said you were busy," Henley exclaimed. She had just left the bathroom and walked over to the table when she spotted Daniel talking to Jack.

Jack sighed loudly, hoping that maybe Henley would catch on and get the hint to leave Jack and Mia alone. "Henley, this is Mia. Mia, this is Henley," Jack said.

But Henley either didn't catch on or didn't care. "What is she to you?" Henley demanded, glaring at Mia.

"Um..Jack? You didn't tell me you had a girlfriend..." Mia said nervously. She fiddled with the hem of her dress nervously.

Jack blushed. "She's not my girlfriend. Henley's a close friend, and Henley..." Jack sighed, deciding to tell Henley the truth. "Mia's my date."

"Oh," Henley said in fake surprise. "And what are your intentions with Jack?" Henley held up a butter knife from the table in a threatening way.

Daniel sighed and went over to take the knife from Henley. "Calm down. Her intentions, obviously, are to date Jack. After all, who could turn down that amazing hunk of youth and cuteness? You aren't Jack's mother," Daniel said in a mocking teenage girl voice.

"No I am not. Thank goodness I'm not his mother. She's like a mom-zilla from a horror movie. Worse than any monster mother-in-law," Henley shuddered. She sat back down in the chair.

Jack glared, but was mentally thankful that Daniel got Henley to calm down and not threaten his date. Jack peaked nervously at Mia, and was surprised to see her smiling.

"Your friend is really funny," Mia laughed.

"Well, people always tell me I have a great sense of humor," Henley said, finally shaking hands with Mia. Henley took off her jacket to reveal her dress.

"Oh, well… this is a bit awkward," Mia laughed, pointing to their dresses. "But at least I know that you have a great sense of fashion."

"That's right!" Henley agreed. She pulled up a chair from her supposed table and brought it over to Jack and Mia's table to sit next to Mia. "So tell me, what eye shadow do you use because that color is absolutely fabulous!"

"I have an idea," Daniel said, looking at Jack. "Why don't we combine our tables?"

Jack shook his head vigorously. It was supposed to be a date between two, like a motorcycle. Now, it seemed more like a station wagon than anything.

"That's a great idea, Danny! Help me push the table over," Henley said.

Henley and Daniel pushed the table so that now, the two tables were connected.

Jack groaned and slapped his hand to his forehead. He wondered if the date could get any worse.

And he immediately regretted wondering that. As if on cue, Merritt walked over to the table.

"Hey everyone! It looks like there were a few more people than expected, but I can roll with that. Hi there miss. You know, funny story, Jack said that he was busy today. I guess this is the business he was talking about. You must be Jack's date?" Merritt concluded. Merritt sat himself down at the table as well.

Mia gave him a weird look but smiled, "Hi, I'm Mia. And how did you possibly know that I was his date?"

"Well, Jack doesn't get many girls. Either you are his date or his mother and trust me – his mother is nothing compared to you," Merritt chuckled.

"I guess your mother is someone I should only meet if we're serious?" Mia concluded.

"Trust me, even if you are getting married, don't invite the parents," Merritt whispered loudly.

Jack thought that his date had been going pretty well. But Jack was now the only one standing. His date was happily having conversations with all his teammates.

Mia laughed at something Merritt said and then looked at Jack. "Come sit down, Jack. Your friends are great!"

Jack sighed. Only the Horsemen could steal your really pretty date away from you and not even notice. Jack pulled out the chair and sat down again next to Mia.

And when Jack sat down, Mia grabbed his hand under the table and didn't let go. She eyed him shyly, smiled slightly, and turned back to the other Horsemen.

Jack grinned faintly. But only the Horsemen could be so lovable that his date would probably want to go out with him again.


	40. Merritt Mckinney

**Thanks for the neat reviews, follows, favorites, and support! This happens to be the two requests of Guest, where the Horsemen go clubbing and Daniel/Henley have a similar dance scene like the one in Zombieland. Even though I did say no more requests, I caved and wrote the request of starstruk97, where Jack is in a fight and the Horsemen step in.**

**This is the second posting of today. Sob, one more day. Two more stories. :( :( :( It's kind of funny because earlier this year I was so excited for the retreat and now I'm wishing each day to go slower.**

**Disclaimer: Don't own Now You See Me**

Merritt Mckinney

Recently, a new club opened about a hour away from where the Horsemen lived. The club featured a dance floor, DJ, and bar. The club received raving reviews and was recommended for anyone that could get to it.

One day, over dinner, Jack brought up this newly opened club and wanted to go. He complained that he was already past 21, yet hasn't been to a club. At first, every one was very hesitant. Henley didn't really want to go because she couldn't drink so she wouldn't have much to do. Merritt didn't want to go because he planned to watch the big football game. And Daniel didn't want to go because it would attract attention.

However, after days of whining and protesting, Jack managed to annoy his teammates into going. They agreed to go Friday night, which was today.

Jack got dressed in his room. He changed into a dark blue v-neck shirt and dark jeans. He slipped on his signature leather jacket and added a little bit of gel in his hair to complete his look. Approving his image in the mirror, he grinned and walked out of his room.

Merritt wore a clean, white button up shirt with a black blazer. He wore his fedora hat as always and squirted some cologne. He slipped on his dress shoes and left his room.

Henley put on a navy dress that hugged her body, but was flow-y in the sleeves. She put a gold necklace and earrings. She wore black leather gloves and grabbed the gold clutch on her desk. Then, she slipped on black heels to complete her outfit. She closed the door behind her.

Daniel wore dress pants and black dress shirt. He completed his look with a dark navy tie and smiled satisfactorily in the mirror. He walked out of his room to meet his teammates. To his surprise, they were already waiting for him at front of his room.

"Ugh, finally. It's about time Danny!" Henley whined.

"Well, perfection takes time," Daniel shrugged.

"But hey, we look hot," Jack grinned cheekily.

"Hey Jack, what was the name of the club again?" Merritt asked.

"Let's see," Jack said as he checked his phone. "It's called LIVE."

"Why does that sound so familiar?" Merritt asked no one in particular.

"It just opened, so I doubt you've gone to it before," Daniel said.

"Maybe you went to another club with a similar name?" Henley suggested.

"Regardless, let's go already!" Jack rushed and pushed his teammates out the door.

The four Horsemen drove to the club and made it there at around 8:00 pm. They parked their car and walked over to the front entrance. And they were very terrified of the enormous line that awaited them.

"Are…are you sure we want to wait in that?" Henley asked timidly.

"Don't worry guys, I came prepared," Daniel said proudly. "I did some research and invested in some VIP passes. We can go directly to the front."

"Wow, the control freak actually did something useful," Merritt joked.

Daniel glared but walked up to the front. They all showed their VIP passes and IDs and went inside.

Everything was loud. The music blasted from speakers all around the room and people were talking. People were dancing on the dance floor to the DJ's beat. There were also people drinking at the bar. And there were small booths for small groups that wanted to sit together.

"Wow," Jack said. His eyes lit up and he tried to absorb all of the club experience.

All of a sudden, four girls came up to Merritt.

"Merritt, baby!" one of the girls said. She had her hair in a ponytail and wore a hot pink strapless dress and beige heels. She put her arms around Merritt.

"Shanon?" Merritt said in disbelief.

"Merritt! You should've called!" another scolded. She wore a white tube top and a dark blue skirt. She wore red heels and had her hair in big curls. She walked over and kissed Merritt on the cheek repeatedly.

"Claire too?" Merritt spluttered. "I suppose Becca and Beth are here as well?"

A pair of twins came up to Merritt as well. Both had their hair styled into a high bun. And both wore glittery dresses, one green and one gold. They both hugged Merritt by the waist and complained together, "You bet we're here, Merritt! You wait so long to see us. We miss you so much!"

Merritt grinned and hugged all the girls. He then looked up and realized that the other Horsemen were staring at him in a mix of shock and confusion.

"Um…" Jack coughed awkwardly. "Hi. Who are you all?"

They all giggled at Jack and replied, "We're Merritt's girls."

Merritt's teammates stared in horror.

Henley thought the women meant that they all were dating Merritt, "Geez Merritt. I never knew you were a such a womanizer. Shame on you!"

Daniel thought Merritt fathered all these girls. "Whoa. I never knew you were such a busy guy. Whose the mother? Or mothers?"

Jack on the other hand was thoroughly impressed, "Man, Merritt. You have got to teach me your women skills."

Merritt chuckled and shook his head, "No, these are my girlfriends, lovers, or daughters. Goodness no. These are my sisters."

"That's right," Claire said. "And you all are?"

"We're Merritt's friends. I'm Henley," Henley pointed to herself. "And that's Daniel and Jack."

Everyone went around to shake hands.

"Pleasure to meet you all," Becca and Beth said enthusiastically.

"Hey, where's mom?" Merritt asked.

"Vacationing in Cancun with her friends," Claire replied as she rolled her eyes.

"Again?" Merritt gasped.

"You know mom. Those tans just don't stay," Claire grinned.

"How are you liking our new club?" Shanon asked.

"This is your club?" Jack asked in surprise.

"No wonder it sounded so familiar!" Merritt exclaimed. "Jack had mentioned LIVE and I just couldn't recall where I remembered it from."

"Yup, that's right. I founded the club. Claire is a bartender. Becca and Beth are waitresses. It's like a family girl thing," Shanon smiled. She wanted to keep talking, but one of the workers pulled her aside to ask her a question.

"We'd love to chat, but we've got work to do. It was great to meet you all. And Merritt, it was absolutely delightful to see you again, baby brother," Claire laughed. She hopped over the counter and went back to bartending.

"Enjoy the club!" the twins shouted as they walked away.

"So… those are my sisters. I'm the youngest," Merritt said as he rubbed the back of his neck.

"A family of girls?" Henley confirmed.

"Yup. My mom divorced my dad because he would always drink. But before that, they gave birth to five kids. Four girls and one boy. Scary right?" Merritt joked.

"I think it's very lively," Henley replied.

"And your sisters are hot," Jack winked.

Merritt made a face that got everyone laughing. "Anyways, we're a great family. Except I'd say I grew up in a weird environment. The girls would always dress me up like a doll, and I learned all about the horrors of the female body," Merritt added.

Henley elbowed him, "Well, it's great to meet your family."

"Wow," Jack said. "Who knew that LIVE founders and workers were related to Merritt! Hey, do we get a discount?"

"I don't know," Merritt replied. "But let's worry about costs later. For now, we party!"

The four Horsemen began to have some fun. Merritt and Jack quickly became situated with the bar, getting some drinks started. Henley and Daniel made their way to the dance floor.

Henley and Daniel danced idly next to each other for a while.

Henley struck up a conversation, "Say, want to play truth?"

"How do you play?" Daniel asked.

"We each ask each other questions and the other person has to be completely honest. But you get three passes," Henley explained.

"Okay, I'll go first," Daniel asserted. "What is your favorite horror film?"

"Anaconda, definitely," Henley said.

"Oh… anacondas…" Daniel repeated. He hated snakes. Didn't fear them, but definitely didn't like them.

"My turn. Tattoo?" Henley asked curiously.

Daniel coughed, "Pass."

Henley blinked, surprised that Daniel actually had a tattoo. She wondered where it was, but couldn't press further because Daniel had called a pass.

The two continued to move to the music as they talked.

Daniel changed the subject, "First school dance?"

"Winter formal. Got asked out by a guy with granny glasses. Couldn't say no because he brought his grandmother to see him ask me out," Henley laughed, recalling the memory. "Okay, what about you? Dance?"

"Sadie Hawkins dance, which meant girl's choice. So… I didn't go," Daniel replied awkwardly. To his defense, that was before he knew how to charm a girl with magic so much that she'd sleep with him. And also, that was back in his teenager years with pimples and nervous breakdowns.

"Aw…Danny! You know what, I'll make it up to you. On behalf of those horrible girls that turned down the great J. Daniel Atlas, will you have this dance with me?" Henley smiled.

As if on cure, the club music slowed down for one slow song for everyone to calm down.

Henley and Daniel swayed slowly, both in each other's arms. Henley rested her head on Daniel's shoulder. Daniel looked up so that Henley couldn't see him blink. Both could feel each other's heart beats.

Daniel coughed, "Okay, another question. Do you like me?"

Henley blinked in surprise. After a while, she replied, "Pass." She couldn't stand the rejection Daniel could tell her.

Daniel felt rejected but did his best to brush it off. He didn't let go of Henley, but now felt so embarrassed he could cry in a corner.

Henley continued to sway with Daniel. She asked quietly, "My turn. Do you want to kiss me?"

Daniel looked at her in surprise now. "What?" Daniel asked.

"Hey, I'm asking the question here," Henley joked. "I said, hypothetically, if I were to kiss you, would you kiss me back?"

Daniel didn't say anything for a really long time. The slow song ended and a fast, upbeat tempo replaced the slow beat.

Henley sighed and pulled away.

But Daniel pulled her back towards him. In the midst of all the sweaty, hyper, and drunk crowds on the dance floor, Daniel kissed Henley.

Henley began to kiss back. Daniel tilted his head to deepen the kiss. It was a hot make out on a hot dance floor.

Finally, the two gasped for air after several minutes. The two were panting, frozen in the middle of the dance floor.

"Wow…" Henley said.

Daniel smirked, "That's my answer. I'll ask you again and again, until you use up your pass and have to answer me with the truth. Do you like me? Do you like me? Do you like me?"

Maybe it was the confident atmosphere of the LIVE nightclub. Or perhaps it was the intoxicated air that surrounded them both.

Regardless, Henley surged in a moment of confidence and said, "Yes. I like you."

It was so quiet that Daniel almost missed it. But he heard it and not a moment later, was kissing Henley again.

She gasped in surprise. "You always seem to catch me by surprise with kisses," she laughed.

"You said yes, and I was so happy that I could finally kiss you without you getting upset," Daniel grinned cheekily. "I'm glad you said yes. You were starting to shatter the great J. Daniel Atlas' confidence."

"Shut up boyfriend," Henley muttered and stood on her toes to kiss him again.

Meanwhile, Jack had just left Merritt and the bar. Merritt was drinking even more than usual. Jack realized that Merritt could get extremely drunk at the bar and while it was always fun to see a drunk Merritt, Jack didn't want to deal with any vomit. So, Jack went outside to get some air after only have one drink himself.

The club had a patio outside connected to the dance floor, and that's where Jack went. He took in deep breaths, and looked up at the sky. Many people were dancing and partying because there were speakers outside.

Suddenly Jack caught onto the situation near him. It was a group of three guys, with hoods on, who looked really suspicious. Jack glanced out of the corner of his eye and saw that they had knives and were walking into the dance floor.

"Hey!" Jack yelled before he could think twice. "Where do you think you're going with those knives?" Jack walked over to the men.

The men glared at him.

"You better shut up kid," one of them snapped.

But Jack didn't listen and shouted, "Everyone, these losers brought knives!"

Another man got really angry and threw Jack to the ground. "We told you to shut up!" he screamed as he kicked Jack in the stomach.

The other two men also ganged up on Jack and brought their knives out.

Jack groaned and tried to get back up. He didn't have any weapons with him, not even his cards. Jack looked around and grabbed the chair and flung it at one man.

Jack tried to fight them off, but three bulky men against a skinny teenager was a very difficult battle. Jack fell on the floor and covered his head as best as he could. He could feel himself slowly drifting to unconsciousness.

But before he lost consciousness, he heard his teammates.

"HEY! THAT'S OUR FRIEND YOUR BEATING UP! AND NO ONE BEATS UP OUR FRIEND!" Merritt screamed, eyes hungry for blood.

"Yeah, what he said," Daniel shrugged, but glared at the men as well.

The two charged at the men and started kicking and slamming heads against floors. They were so violent and angry that even when the police arrived, they didn't slow their attacks.

Jack grinned faintly, even though it hurt to smile. Merritt and Daniel look like superheroes, Jack thought. He barely felt someone helping him up and wiping the blood off his face.

"Jack? Hey Jack! Stay with me alright! You have to stay awake!" Henley repeated over and over. She was cleaning his wounds until a paramedic team arrived to pick Jack up.

"Don't worry Henley, I'll stay awake," Jack mumbled. He was on the edge, but he managed to stay awake. "Say," Jack said quietly. "Why does Daniel have your lipstick on his face?"

Henley froze, "What?" she laughed nervously. "I think it's a hallucination, Jack. You did, after all, get slammed in the head."

"No, I know that color anywhere. That's magic rouge red," Jack replied with a hint of arrogance. "Could it be… are you two…"

"Yes," Henley confessed. "Now shut up and let me wipe the blood off of your mouth."


	41. Jeans

**Thanks for the delightful reviews, follows, favorites, and support! I didn't realize this until now, but the previous chapter was the last chapter of requests. I have completed all the requests! Yay! I did say two chapters on this last day, and this will be the first. It is not a request, just something I thought up randomly. **

**This is the first post of today! **

**Disclaimer: Don't own ****Now You See Me**

Jeans

Daniel was home alone. Henley and Jack went out to the mall for some new clothes. Merritt was outside washing the car. Daniel went over to the fridge to get a snack and pulled out some nutella and toast. After thoroughly drenching his toast with the deliciously addicting spread, he put the ingredients back and began walking towards his room. Noticing Jack's leather jacket on the coach, Daniel decided to be helpful and went to put it back in Jack's room.

With one hand holding his toast and the other holding the leather jacket, Daniel went into Jack's room. The room was dark navy with cards and money painted on the walls. His room was a typical boy's room, messy with the scent of cologne. Swallowing the rest of his toast, Daniel used both hands to fold Jack's jacket neatly and opened the closet to put it back.

As Daniel put the leather jacket away, he noticed Jack's pile of pants. Daniel had always wondered how the teenager managed to fit into jeans that were made for female models size 00. Now, these jeans weren't leggings, but they certainly slimmed down compared to Daniel's own slacks and pants.

Daniel became curious, trying to figure out why Jack would wear girl jeans. Daniel acknowledged that Jack was very stylish, and many of their fans referred to the teenager as sexy, hot, and gorgeous.

Maybe it was all in the pants.

Daniel wondered if Jack was forcing himself into these jeans, as Daniel had read articles about girls who starve themselves to wear nice clothing. Yet, Jack never seemed to struggle as he ran away from cops and he didn't seem uncomfortable on stage either.

Daniel held up a pair of Jack's dark wash jeans. He went over to the bedroom door and poked his head out the door, looking both ways, before closing Jack's bedroom door. Daniel held the jeans against his lower half in the mirror and suddenly had the urge to try them on.

After all, Daniel thought, I'm just as gorgeously hot and sexy as him.

And so, Daniel tried to change into Jack's jeans. He had to hop around for a while, but finally succeeded. He went over to the mirror and smiled to himself.

To add to his male-model fashion stimulation, he found the stereo in Jack's room and turned it up. As the pop music played heavy bass beats, he began to strike poses as though in front of paparazzi.

Jack's rooms just so happened to have a window facing the front of the house. Jack had left the window open to get some air in his room before he left, and Daniel forgot to close it.

So, as Jack was jogging back up the hill from his walk outside, he heard music playing from his bedroom window. Jack became suspicious, wondering if there was a robber in the house. He went around the outside of the house and looked inside his bedroom window.

Jack didn't know which emotion took hold first, confusion or fear. He found J. Daniel Atlas, his idol and master magician partner, strutting around in his jeans. Deciding it was best to confront Daniel, Jack leaned on the windowsill and asked calmly, "Hey…Daniel. What… could you possibly be doing?"

Daniel paused, mid-strut, and looked back at the junior magician. Faking awkward laughs, Daniel slowly inched towards the stereo and turned it off. He went to the windowsill and replied with a cough, "I was…just testing out the clothing for our performances. Yes, we can't have wardrobe malfunctions during our acts right?"

Jack raised an eyebrow and answered, "Ah…errr…yeah. So I'm guessing you'll be testing Henley's strapless black mini-dress after this?"

"Ha ha…I'll just take these off and give them back to you," Daniel chuckled nervously. He stared pointedly at Jack until Jack sighed and turned around, heading into the house.

Daniel quickly began to change out of Jack's pants when, much to his horror, the pants wouldn't come off. Daniel twisted and turned, yanked and pulled, squirmed and wiggled, but the pants stayed firmly on his legs. Sighing, he walked out to the hallway.

Daniel's eyes met Jack's in the hallway. He said quietly to Jack, "Jack, I think there's a malfunction in your wardrobe. Aren't you glad I checked? I'm going to have to take these into further examination."

Jack paused and debated whether he wanted to know. Finally, he asked, "Daniel, you can't get out of my pants, can you?" Any other time, Jack would have cracked a dirty joke. But this turn of events really tired him out.

Daniel didn't say anything, but went over to the kitchen and got out some scissors. Jack rubbed his temple for a while before going over and helping his mentor cut the jeans off his legs.


	42. Back in Business

**THANKS FOR EVERYTHING EVERYONE! Though I have ended this story, I hope that you all will occasionally revisit the story, so that my writing can brighten your day a few more times. Did you force someone you know to watch the movie and now they love it? Recommend this story and see what they think! Especially when the movie comes out on DVD, then you can watch the movie and fall in love all over again (like I plan to do).**

**Okay, so I didn't know how to write a finale. The endings are always hard. But I tried to show how the Horsemen have each others' backs no matter what. And I tried to wrap up the story in context to the movie as best as I could.**

**And who said this will be the last time I write? I'm not sure what I'll do next, but when I come back, keep an eye out for another story alright? **

**A writer is nothing without her readers! And I want to thank every single one of you (literally, I was going to write a list of your names, but my retreat bus leaves in about ten minutes). I can only thank you all as a group, but trust me when I say that I read every review and took in every comment. :)**

**Disclaimer: Still don't own ****Now You See Me**

Back in Business

Tonight was Henley's turn for dinner. Looking through the phonebook, she found a pizza place close by that had free delivery service.

"Guys!" Henley yelled, covering the bottom half of the phone so that the pizza place wouldn't hear her yelling, "I'm ordering pizza so tell me what you want!"

Henley was greeted back with a jumbled mess of words. Groaning, she asked again in annoyance. "What do you want, one by one?"

"Hawaiian!"

"Pepperoni!"

"King Kong Combo!"

Henley had a pen and paper in her hands, and quickly realized that the pizza man was waiting on the other side of the phone. "I was wondering if you took special requests – hey!" The pizza man hung up on her.

Angrily, Henley called back. "Excuse me, but it is extremely rude to hang up on someone, especially a customer! I'm sorry if you had to wait a moment but – hey!" The pizza man left Henley hanging, again.

By now, Henley was very angry. She stormed over to Jack's room, banged the door open, and handed him the phone. "Please. call. for. pizza," she gritted out. She stomped out of the room.

Jack realized that it would be best not to crack a joke, for he felt his life was at stake. Luckily, the pizza man didn't realize that this was the same number that had called before. Jack managed to make the pizza man agree to a customized pizza. And so, he ordered an extra large pizza so that each person got four slices of his or her choice.

Merritt came into the kitchen a few minutes later. "You know, Henley, if the pizza isn't delivered in 30 minutes, we get the whole pizza free."

Henley said, "Of course, but these people wouldn't offer that deal unless they were sure the pizza would come on time. Though, I would love to get a free pizza after that horrible service. I'm going to take a shower."

Merritt nodded as he watched Henley stomp off. He was upset that someone had made Henley upset, and wanted to get some healthy revenge. He noticed that Jack came in soon after and said, "Say Jack, would you be willing to help me in a little mischief?"

Jack nodded eagerly, "Sure thing. What's the plan?"

"Well, the pizza guy was awfully mean to Henley, so we're just going to serve some justice."

"I'm in," Jack grinned.

Just as they were about to head out, Daniel came back from his jog. "Whoa, where are you two going? And why are you dressed for a memorial service?"

Merritt waved his hand dismissively, "Jack and I are going out for a little revenge. These outfits are our," Merritt paused for dramatic effect, "spy outfits. So that we will blend in with the surroundings as we carry out our plans."

Daniel shook his head. "Whatever it is, I'm coming too. I have to make sure you two don't attract any attention."

Merritt pointed to Daniel's room. "Go change into your spy outfit then."

Daniel looked skeptically at Merritt. "How about no?"

And so, much to Merritt's dismay, Daniel simply changed into jeans and a sweatshirt. The three drove until they reached the halfway point between their house and the pizza place. Along the drive, Merritt explained the plan, but Daniel remained doubtful.

Soon enough, they saw the pizza car come up the road. Jack was the first to spring into action. He pulled out his trusty cards and aimed at a wheel of the car. Not a second later, the card slit the wheel and the car stopped.

Grumbling, the pizza guy came out of the car and kicked the flat tire. "Damn, now I have to walk the rest of the way," he grumbled. Taking the pizza box from car, he was about to walk. But first, he paused and took out a magazine, Time, and wiped his forehead.

To Daniel's shock and horror, the Time magazine was the issue that featured the Four Horsemen, with Daniel's face right where the sweaty pizza man's forehead made contact. Merritt and Jack held in their laughs as Daniel's face contorted with disgust and anguish.

As the pizza man walked, Daniel came up to him. "Good evening sir," Daniel said politely.

"Move it kid, I've got a delivery to make," the pizza man snapped.

Daniel kept his patience. "Well, see, I was going to order pizza tonight actually, but I wanted to see the quality before I decided which store, and so, if I may, perhaps take a glance at your fine pizza?"

The pizza man eyed Daniel suspiciously before nodding and handing him the pizza. Thanks to his sleight of hand, Daniel quickly pulled the pizza out of the box and tossed it into a box that Merritt was holding. Merritt had gone into the truck and found an empty pizza box inside. Daniel wondered briefly how dense this guy was; he was facing Daniel, who was smack on the front of Time, and didn't recognize him.

"Thank you, good sir," Daniel said as he began walking away. "I'm assured of your pizza quality."

The pizza man stared at Daniel, but continued on his way. Quickly, the three Horsemen drove the car back to their house before the pizza man could arrive. Henley poked her head out of her room and asked, "Hey, where'd you go?"

No one responded and as Henley was about to ask again, the doorbell rang.

The pizza man began to speak, "Delivery for Mr. Jack Wilder."

Jack and Henley went over to the door. "Thanks dude, but you're late, so I get the pizza free," Jack answered

"No," the pizza man said, "You called at 5:30pm, and it is now 5:58pm. I delivered it in half an hour so that'll be $27."

Jack smiled, "Nope. Your policy says that a pizza is to be delivered in half an hour. It's true you made it in time, props on that, but there's no pizza."

The pizza man, flustered, opened the box. The pizza was not there. "Impossible," he muttered. "The pizza was there!" The pizza man fumbled with the box again and set it down on the bench next to the front door of the house.

Henley wondering if this was karma in action. "Hmmm…I suppose since there's no pizza, we don't have to pay," she wondered aloud.

"It's you!" the pizza man recognized her voice. "I don't know how you did it, but you sabotaged me!"

Henley shook with anger, "Excuse me? You dare accuse me after you hung up on me twice?"

Jack looked away from the feuding man and woman and noticed Daniel had come out the back door and switched the pizza boxes.

Jack glanced at his watch and sure enough, it was now 6:01pm. He raised his hand as if in a classroom. "I have an idea!" he exclaimed as he clasped his hands together. "Perhaps, if we just looked again, maybe we missed the pizza the first time."

"You idiot! The pizza wasn't there! What makes you think it will be there again –" the pizza man shut up once he opened the box and saw the customized pizza he had made a half an hour earlier.

Jack smiled and glanced at his watch. "And, since the pizza didn't come until after 30 minutes, I believe this pizza is free." He took the pizza out of the man's hands and slammed the door.

Jack brought the pizza over to the kitchen. The three other Horsemen smiled knowingly at each other and helped Henley set up the dinner table.

As they ate, Henley retold what had happened to the pizza guy. She was very happy that the pizza delivery guy got what he deserved. And she didn't even question the luck of the events.

Suddenly, Daniel's phone went off. He answered it and put it on speaker. "Hello?" Daniel said.

"Hey guys, it's Dylan," came the voice.

"Hi Dylan!" Henley said.

"Hey!" Jack yelled through the phone, but it was muffled by the pizza in his mouth.

"What's up Dylan?" Merritt asked.

"One of my groups of agents from the Eye got hurt on a mission," Dylan replied.

The Horsemen nodded silently. They knew how dangerous their job could get. In fact, they found that out on day one of their recruitment.

"So, I need another group of four to fill in and complete the mission. I know you all are still in hiding, but there's no one else for the job. What do you say?" Dylan asked.

The four Horsemen looked at each other.

Not a moment later, they replied, "Definitely."

Dylan smiled, "Great, I'll give you the details. You all leave tomorrow." And with that he hung up the phone.

"It looks like we're back in business," Daniel confirmed. He set the phone on the table and picked up his pizza again.

Jack and Merritt nodded enthusiastically.

"I propose a toast," Henley said. She raised her soda can up high. "No matter what we do from here, we stick together as a team. Even if we don't all live in the same house, promise me we won't become strangers." She couldn't lose her boyfriend or best friends.

"Agreed," Jack replied. He couldn't lose the family he actually liked.

"You didn't even have to ask," Merritt laughed. He couldn't lose his go-to people for teasing and bothering.

"You have my word," Daniel replied. He couldn't lose the girl who wouldn't leave him when she found out his many flaws, or the two guys that gave him excitement and annoyance in his life.

This house that the Horsemen stayed in wasn't particularly nice or luxurious. But it was the place for all their bonding. They told each other secrets, made each other laugh, shed some tears, attacked each other, and showed each other the sides of them that no one else could ever see just from their stage appearances. The memories in this house will remain unknown to the Horsemen fans, their enemies, and basically everyone.

Well, except for you.


End file.
